I bought new £12 M&S Christmas chocolate tub to see if it was worth the price

With Christmas on the horizon, people will be stocking up on the returning tubs of mini chocolates. Either as party snacks or thoughtful gifts, these tubs come and go each year without fail, but there's a new mega mix on the market in 2025.

Marks and Spencer (M&S) has made its Christmas chocolates even bigger this year, releasing the latest Big Mix Tin filled with 1.2kg of chocolates and toffees. The new selection tin contains salted caramel, butterscotch, and fudge, among other flavours.

The festive assortment proved a hit with certain shoppers when tins started being posted online. After being well and truly influenced, I found a tin in my local M&S to see if these could possibly replace something we've had every Christmas since I can remember.

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Opening the tub, there's clearly a lot of choice, with ten different options, meaning there is bound to be something for everyone. My favourites so far have been the cream sweets, specifically the strawberry and orange versions, but the caramel biscuit chocolate was surprisingly nice, too—and almost tasted like Biscoff, something I've always thought deserves a place in one of the classic Christmas tubs.

When I shared these with visiting family, it didn't seem like a major deal, but almost everyone said that it was nice that they had "proper" foil wrappers. One of them said it's "just like Quality Street used to be," and it's clear why lots of other people felt the same way about these treats.

What did I get in my tin?

Some better-known tubs of chocolate sometimes contain a truckload of one chocolate and hardly any of another. However, M&S' tub contained a pretty even spread of chocolates, leaving plenty for people to try or indulge in their go-to favourite.

In total, I got 107 chocolates for £12, which works out at about 9p per chocolate. In the photo below, I counted each bite-sized treat to see exactly how well this specific bundle split, and this was the result.

• Cream Toffee - 16
• Orange Creme - 12
• Caramel Fudge - 11
• Strawberry Creme - 11
• Butterscotch Eclair - 11
• Coffee Truffle - 10
• Milk Creme - 10
• Biscuit in Caramel - 9
• Salted Caramel - 9
• Hazelnut Caramel - 8

It's worth pointing out that every tub will be a little bit different, as that's the whole point of an assortment. But if this test is anything to go by, you should end up with a fair amount of each sweet to prevent fights and arguments on Christmas Day.

I've done these kinds of tests in the past, and you get nothing near that in Celebrations, Quality Street, Rose, and Heroes without buying multiple plastic tubs. Doubling the size of the tin will clearly leave enough room to ensure that the best treats don't disappear so quickly.

Is it worth the price?

With the likes of Celebrations, Quality Street, Rose, and Heroes, it's clear why most shops don't attempt to muscle into the market. But I'm actually pretty glad that M&S has tried, as I really think these are much better than what most Brits are used to indulging in over Christmas.

It might seem a little steep to splash out £12 on a tub of chocolates, but at least you do get a reasonable amount of genuinely nice treats for that. Considering that a pack of the 'Big Four' can set shoppers back close to £7 for something that's usually under 600g, this seems like a no-brainer to me.

If the tub that weighs over a kilo might seem too much, M&S offers a smaller 650g pack with all the same chocolates for £6. These items are both found in the seasonal aisles with other sweet treats like mince pies, shortbread biscuits, and the latest twist on Percy Pig's iconic sweets.