Pick n Pay has launched its Christmas campaign, designed to encourage South Africans to embrace the traditional Christmas festivities.The online destination offers everything consumers could need for a hassle-free, South African Christmas.

“This year is all about ensuring that Christmas time is a happy, stress-free time for everyone. People are getting busier and at the same time, family budgets are under increasing pressure. We recognise this and we are always looking for ways in which to help our customers do more with less – by providing time-saving ways to shop and by promising the best value,” says Georgina Muirhead, head of Digital at Pick n Pay.

The dedicated Christmas platform has taken digital organising to a new level with gift guides categorised for him, her and everyone in between; ready-made Christmas menus for the budget conscious, health conscious, carb conscious and even the Traditionalist. The menus, which include starters, main dishes, sides and deserts are printable and also have automatically generated online shopping lists so users do not even need to leave the comfort of their homes to buy all the ingredients to create the menu.

Furthermore, the online Christmas site also features over 200 individual Christmas recipes for those who wish to generate their own Christmas menu. The collection of recipes is categorised into starters, mains, baking, side dishes, cocktail food, platters, meat dishes and even recipes for leftovers after the feast!

“We are encouraging South Africans to embrace the traditional Christmas festivities – but to do so in a truly South African way this year. So, while we have recipes for the traditional Christmas everyone loves, we also have wonderful ideas for frozen mince pies and frozen desserts that are perfect for a summer climate,” says Muirhead.

And, for the ultimate planner, there is a day-by-day pre-Christmas countdown planner which starts mid-November and provides a daily reminder of the most important pre-Christmas planning to be done so that the run up to the Big Day is as hassle free as can be. The plan goes as far as to provide a digital list of basic pantry items to stock up on, which, like all other ingredients and merchandise can be ordered for home delivery online – as well as reminders for when to prep essential kitchen equipment, begin decorating and start collecting stocking stuffers.

According to Muirhead, the Christmas campaign is also aimed at bringing age-old Christmas tradition to light for South Africa. “Many people in South Africa know about Santa and his reindeer but this year, we have customised our Tuk Tuks into each of the NINE reindeer so that people can get to know them even better. We also have a competition running to encourage people to keep an eye out for our reindeer Tuk Tuks and to spread the Christmas joy by sharing the sightings!