TESCO has announced its Christmas 2024 meal deal range and four fan favourites will return to its aisles in just days.
The retail giant has confirmed that a total of eight new mains and sides will join the lineup in stores and online from October 21.
Tesco Clubcard members can nab a festive main, snack and drink for a measly £3.60.
The supermarket has something for everyone – with options catering to meat-eaters and veggies alike.
Sarnies making their debut in the range include Tesco’s new Christmas Cracking Currywurst Sub – available for a £3.00 on its own, making this meal deal a stellar saver.
The festive sandwich is filled with juicy pork sausage, smoky caramelised onions and tangy curry ketchup, wrapped into an egg-glazed sub roll.
For £3.25, the new Ho-Ho-Hog Wrap comes with low-cooked pulled pork seasoned with fennel and garlic.
It’s paired with rosemary gravy mayo and a crunchy apple slaw and wrapped in a tortilla.
Veggies can enjoy the new Plant Chef Christmas Veg Fest Wrap for just £3.
It features roasted carrots, parsnips, and spiced red cabbage, topped with vegan gravy mayo and is tucked inside a spinach tortilla.
The supermarket has also kept gluten-free eaters in mind with their new Gluten Free Festive Chicken & Trimmings sandwich for £3.40.
It pairs tender chicken breast, layered with pork, sage and onion stuffing mayo, cranberry sauce between two slices of seeded gluten-free bread.
But that’s not all – some popular products are returning to the festive meal deal range, including the likes of Tesco Turkey & Trimmings Sandwich, priced at £3.40.
This sandwich is packed with turkey breast, sausage, sage and onion stuffing, and beechwood smoked bacon and is layered with mayo and cranberry sauce, served on slices of malted bread.
And Clubcard members can get three premium mains as part of its Christmas Meal Deal range for just a fiver.
The Tesco Finest side comes complete with a side and a choice of drink, like regular meal deals.
The first premium main is the Chicken & Bacon Wrap with Gravy Mayonnaise Dip, setting shoppers back £4.25 on its own.
It contains chargrilled chicken breast and maple-cured bacon which is paired with a tangy cranberry chilli chutney and wrapped in a soft, bar-marked tortilla.
The second main to join the lineup is the £4.50 Festive Chicken, Bacon & Stuffing Mayo Baguette which comes with chicken breast, beechwood smoked bacon, sage and onion stuffing mayo, and cranberry sauce.
The third and final premium main is the £4.25 Tesco Finest Turkey BLT that’s inspired by New York delis.
It features pastrami-style turkey, maple-cured bacon, Emmental cheese, and tangy gherkin mayo, all served on rye and caraway bread.
Tesco has also launched snacks for just £1.50 a pop, with two new treats for shoppers to feast on.
The Mini Christmas Bangers with Gravy Mayo Dip are made from pork, apple, and cranberry and served with a rich sage and black pepper mayo dip on the side for a herby, festive finish.
The Christmassy Chicken Bites with Festive Cranberry Dip feature tender chicken bites seasoned with stuffing and accompanied by with a zesty cranberry dip.
But two meal deal snacks will be returning – including Tesco Mini Pork Pies and Tesco Pig in Blanket Sausage Rolls.
The pair of mini pork pies feature seasoned cured pork, sweetened dried cranberries, and cranberry sauce wrapped in a crisp hot water crust pastry.
Meanwhile, the Pig in Blanket Sausage Rolls include pork sausage meat wrapped in smoked bacon and encased in flaky puff pastry and sage and onion seasoning.
THE annual festive hiring spree is officially in full swing, with another 40,000 Christmas temp jobs up for grabs this week.
Seasonal positions are a great way to test out different sectors and to see if it’s an area you would like work in longer term.
Taking on an unconventional temp job will help you develop a new skillset, build your network and make your CV stand out when you apply for jobs in the future.
This week Sunemployment brings you some of the most unusual festive jobs on offer . . .
Warwick Castle needs 15 ice rink hosts and two ice rink team leaders. Apply at merlincareers.com.
Posh baker Cutter & Squidge has just launched in John Lewis and is hiring 30 more staff to meet demand for luxury Christmas hampers and cakes.
Co-founder Emily Lui said: “We hire on a combination of positive attitude and energy rather than a whole host of qualifications.
“Oh, and a love of cake also goes a long way too!”
Apply at cutterandsquidge.com.
Have you got what it takes to work in a Christmas grotto?
Great Grottos is recruiting for elves, grotto managers and Santas at greatgrottos.co.uk.
Full training is given but Santas must be aged at least 28. Full and part-time positions available and wages are paid every fortnight.
If you’re a dab hand at ensuring presents look perfect, most major department stores are searching for in-store Christmas gift wrappers.
See jobsearch.selfridges.com, harrodscareers.com and janemeans.com/pages/gift-wrapping-jobs.
Love a Christmas selection box? Then apply to Cadbury World.
The Birmingham attraction is hiring six retail hosts to refill shelves and help on the tills, plus 13 chocolate demonstrators, with the possibility of a permanent job.
Carmen Martin-Smith joined Cadbury World as a festive chocolate-making temp and now works as a permanent chocolate creator.
Carmen, 32, from King’s Norton, Birmingham, said: “I didn’t know a chocolate creator was even a career choice until I started at Cadbury World.
“It’s not like any other job. I love getting creative and I even train new colleagues how to make the handmade items.
“I only have to say my job title is Cadbury World chocolate creator and people are always interested in what it involves.
“If you are thinking of applying for an unusual Christmas job I would say definitely, give it a go.
“Plus, I get to work with chocolate every day, and who wouldn’t want that?”
Gerrard Baldwin, general manager at Cadbury World, said: “Our colleagues play such an important role in delivering the magic of Christmas.”
FOR a super seasonal job, try your local supermarket.
They are among the biggest recruiters of festive temp staff, and this year Tesco is taking on 26,000 Christmas helpers.
Positions are available in the retail giant’s superstores and Extra shops, packing for online deliveries and in store replenishment.
Alexandra Brown, group people services director, said: “We’re looking for people who enjoy working as part of a team and are prepared to go that extra mile to help our customers.”
Jay Styles started as a festive temp but is now a permanent staff member on the checkouts at Tesco’s Hednesford store, in Cannock Chase, Staffs.
Jay said: “Growing up with autism, I found socialising really difficult and never fitted in. I also suffered from low self-esteem and confidence.
“Once I started working at Tesco I felt my confidence grow and I have much more faith in my abilities.
“I was made permanent after my role as a Christmas festive colleague and received great feedback from customers.
“I always feel supported by Tesco and the management team and would highly recommend Tesco as a great place to work.”
Apply at tesco-careers.com/festive.
ALDI is hiring 3,500 store staff at aldirecruitment.co.uk, with pay rates from £12.40 per hour.
MORRISONS needs 3,000 extra people to work across its stores, food manufacturing sites and logistics operations. See morrisons.jobs.
The Co-op also needs 400 new staff. See jobs.coop.co.uk.
PUB chain the Liberation Group is hiring 200 staff for front and back-of-house roles.
The company has more than 120 pubs across South West England and the Channel Islands. Search for jobs at careers.butcombebrewery.com.
EACH year, around one in five festive temps gets an extra present in the shape of a permanent job at their Christmas employer.
If you’d like to turn your seasonal post into a serious career, try this Santa’s sackful of tips, from Department for Work and Pensions work coaches.
ASK ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES: Enjoying your job? Let your manager know you are keen to stay on with the company. If you see a suitable vacancy, apply while you are still working there.
HAVE A CAN-DO ATTITUDE: Approach every task with positivity. Even when the role may be difficult, show determination to get it done well.
BE A TEAM PLAYER: Consider what tasks need to be done by your department and how you can add value.
BE PROACTIVE: When you have finished a task, ask your manager or colleagues if there is anything else you can do to help.
ASK FOR FEEDBACK: Requesting this from your colleagues and your manager will show you have a desire to improve and that you are thinking long-term on how you can develop personally but also within the team.
SHOW YOUR POTENTIAL: Ask if you can shadow colleagues in departments of interest and use it as a work experience exercise.
IT’S not just Father Christmas who busily needs helpers at this time of year.
Logistics firms have thousands of jobs on offer to deliver gifts and parcels across the nation.
DPD is taking on 200 warehouse operatives and drivers (3.5t, 7.5t and Class 1), on fixed-term contracts. See jobs.dpd.co.uk.
There are also 1,000 jobs for self-employed, permanent owner drivers at drivers.dpd.co.uk/apply.
GXO needs 1,500 staff, including warehouse operatives, forklift and HGV drivers. See jobs.gxo.com. Eddie Stobart has more than 100 driver vacancies.
Email your CV to careers@eddiestobart.com.
EVRI needs 5,000 self-employed couriers, with working patterns right across the seven days of the week.
Gary Robinson, director of couriers, said: “As we head into our busiest time of year, we have lots of vacancies for those seeking a role that puts them in control of setting their own workload, with opportunities spanning beyond Christmas.”
See beacourier.co.uk.
THE Sweet Hamper Company based in Tiptree, Essex, is taking on ten festive pickers and packers.
For more details and to apply, see sweethampercompany.co.uk/pages/careers.
TEARS For Fears are at their absolute best live – and they know it.
After 40 years, they are releasing their first live album and a film of one of their brilliant shows.
Songs For A Nervous Planet and Tears For Fears Live (A Tipping Point film) showcase the band at the peak of their powers.
“For those who haven’t seen us live, we are playing our finest shows,” says bassist and singer Curt Smith.
“Our most recent album (2022’s The Tipping Point) showed we still had something to offer.
“It was well received and it had a strong narrative,” says guitarist and singer Roland Orzabal.
“It’s been a joy to play those songs live.”
Both of Tears For Fears are jet-lagged when we meet at their central London record company offices as Smith has flown in from his LA home the night before while Orzabal has arrived from Boston.
There’s a table of soft drinks and fruit to keep them fuelled for back-to-back interviews and the special premiere of their film the following evening.
Tired but chatty, they joke about what they will wear for their film screening.
“What’s wrong with the outfits we are wearing now?” laughs Smith.
“The film is not just for fans but for people who haven’t seen us play live, or those who missed the shows we had to cancel.”
It’s unfinished business for Tears For Fears, who were forced to cancel the remaining dates of their UK Tour in 2022 after Smith broke his ribs.
“It was soul- destroying when that happened,” he says.
“It upset me immensely to not finish that tour because it was going so well.
“It was just one of those freak accidents.
“I thought the bus had stopped but it hadn’t — so I’d stood up to get my bag then the bus jolted forward, and I flew back and literally caught the edge of a table right against my ribs.
“It was so painful.
“I woke up the next morning in agony.
“They could see one cracked rib on the sonogram and said there was no way I could sing.
“When I got back to LA and had a full scan, my doctor told me I had fractured four ribs.”
The film and album’s live recordings were captured at the FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee.
How did they cope performing with cameras in their faces?
“We were relaxed until we got on stage,” says Smith.
“It’s a double-edged sword.
“I don’t think we look as relaxed as we have done in concert.
“But did we play well? Yes, because we concentrated on playing well.
“You are very self-conscious about playing and singing, but it ended up being the best recording.”
Orzabal adds: “When we headlined Radio 2 In The Park in Leicester last year, I was more relaxed.
“Maybe I was more drunk, or it was because lots of other artists were playing, too.
“Sharleen from Texas popped into the dressing room and she’s hilarious.”
Smith says: “We would like to do more of those things as we thoroughly enjoy them, although we’ve never been asked to play Glastonbury or the Isle of Wight.”
It was important for Tears For Fears to include four new songs on Songs For A Nervous Planet to reflect their ongoing creativeness and the fact they are in a good place.
Smith adds: “The Tipping Point was darkness and a lot of pain, but also about coming back into the light.
“We felt these songs had an entity of their own and so we see it as an EP.”
Orzabal added: “I’ve moved on from The Tipping Point, which was about the death of my first wife, Caroline, who died in 2017.
“Now I’ve been remarried for four years, we are happy personally, and we’re certainly happy professionally.” Orzabal had been trying to write a song for his second wife, Emily, and found an old song while clearing out a computer.
He says: “I took the backing track, which sounded a bit like Woman In Chains, to Hawaii on holiday.
“When you are trying to come up with stuff, you’re not on your own.
“I believe you’re picking stuff out of the ether, or out of the Akashic Field, and I needed a special song title.
“I woke up in the morning and had The Girl That I Call Home as a title.
“So, thank you, whoever you are.”
Emily Said is another song inspired by Orzabal’s wife, while Astronaut is “about not feeling that you belong on this earth”.
“It’s also about what you want to be when you’re a kid. For me, I used to say, “maths teacher”.
Curt wanted to be a pilot and a lot of people say, ‘I want to be an astronaut’ — that is exactly what the song is all about.”
“There’s also a sense of escapism,” says Smith.
“Everything is extremely divisive today so the desire to escape is very current.
“And it’s a bit of a weird track, where we can just — forgive the pun — float off to space like an Astronaut.
“And it fits in so well with the other three songs.”
Say Goodbye To Mum And Dad might not have the cheeriest of song titles, but says Orzabal, it’s a “Tears For Fears double-edged sword”.
He continues, “It’s not a happy subject, but with the whistling and music, you get lost in it.
“It’s a morose lyric with a happy backing track and comes from the first lockdown in Britain.
“I was watching TV, seeing all these images of people who couldn’t see or touch their relatives — or were going to hospitals and care homes and seeing their ageing parents through glass and not even being able to go to their funeral.”
“It’s a trademark of ours,” adds Smith.
“If you look at Mad World or Everybody Wants To Rule The World they are lyrically quite dark but have happy backing tracks.
“So, I think it’s the way we choose to balance.”
The album title was inspired by Matt Haig’s book Notes On A Nervous Planet, about how modern life feeds our anxiety, and helps you live a better life.
Orzabal — who suffered a seizure and ended up in hospital and rehab as he struggled with side-effects from taking painkillers — says: “I read this book in 2018, when I was kind of going through it.
“The book says how social media is making the planet so nervous — and explains how it works with algorithms.
We would try talking to George Michael. But it just didn’t happen
Roland Orzabal
“Just read books and protect yourself from the way that information is given to you.
“The way information is received has made everything become very black or white and divisive.”
Smith and Orzabal agree that being in Tears For Fears today is more enjoyable than it was at the height of their fame in the 80s.
“We are enjoying it more today — no question. And there’s a multitude of reasons for that,” says Smith.
“Getting older and calmer, to a certain degree.
“And a lot of it is down to having family — something that’s far more important than music.
“When we were recording in our twenties, it was the be all and end all,” says Smith, who left the band in 1991 and moved to New York with the pair not talking for ten years.
“Nine,” interrupts Orzabal. “Well nine and a bit. We are still trying to make up for it!”
Looking back to their heyday, the pair both say they didn’t really fit in with the other bands of their time.
Smith says: “We didn’t have perspective in our 20s. I just don’t think we became ourselves until we were a lot older.
“We are individual, and we’re extremely happy that no one does anything like us.
“We’d be on Top Of The Pops, and there would be Culture Club and we’d be bothered that they were higher than we were.
“I went to dinner with John Taylor and Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran — and Simon goes, ‘No one knew what to make of you back then.’
“And it’s very true.
“We didn’t fit in with anything, or any of the ‘scenes’ as we were just these weird couple of people from Bath.
“I was never the biggest Duran Duran fan. But they couldn’t be nicer people now I know them.
“But back then there were no real allies — we felt completely out of place.
“Slade were on at Christmas one time, which was fantastic.
“Slade was the first record I ever bought, but apart from that we felt out of place like we didn’t belong there.”
Orzabal says: “I remember early on being in make-up with Martin Gore from Depeche Mode.
“I’ve got a lot of make-up on, and he’s got a lot of make-up on, and you would think that we’d have something to talk about.
“No. We didn’t speak.
“We would try talking to George Michael. But it just didn’t happen.
“Everyone was too competitive.
“We were called the thinking schoolgirls’ Wham!
“But they would look at us as if to say, ‘You guys are nothing like us.
“So, f***k off. It was like school.”
Next, Tears For Fears will be performing for three nights at BleauLive Theater in Las Vegas, at the end of this month.
Would they ever play album shows — where they play an album from start to finish?
“Well, maybe. It’s not something we’ve really thought about,” says Smith.
“And with certain songs we’re like, ‘Oh, fk, I don’t really want to play that one.’”
What about another new album?
Orzabal says: “If we make an analogy, The Tipping Point and The Hurting.
“Then, Songs From The Big Chair, Songs For A Nervous Planet.
“What’s next? Seeds Of Love. Oh, damn, that’s going to take a while.”
Smith adds: “There could be more shows coming and as far as new recordings, I think we’ll release stuff when we think it’s good.
“That approach has served us well in the past.
“When we feel something is worth putting out, that we’re proud enough of, then we’ll release it.
“But we don’t know when that will happen — we don’t know until we do it.
“We’re always going to have a struggle creatively as we’re picky f**ks.”
Orzabal laughs: “We are fussy bastards. But when we do come to an agreement, everyone will know it’s good.”
