Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, they celebrate the festive season with a rather healthy octopus salad served with rice and beans, followed by coconut ice-cream or rum cake and they tend to raise a glass of pina colada with family and friends.

Finland

Finnish families indulge in a Christmas smorgasbord including ham with mustard, turkey, salted salmon, picked herring and salads. Gingerbread is a popular festive treat with a gingerbread house often forming the centrepiece of the table.

France

Not content with one dessert, in the French region of Provence it is customary to have thirteen desserts representing Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles. The desserts including apple, pear and nougat are set out on Christmas Eve and remain on the table until 27 December.

Jamaica

Spicy food is the order of the day in Jamaica where Christmas dinner comprises curried goat or chicken with rice and peas, followed by Christmas cake flavoured with rum and served with sorrel.

Dominican Republic

Eggnog is the tipple of choice in the Dominican Republic whilst enjoying a hog roast, served with potato salad and a rather refreshing fruit platter to round off proceedings.

Norway

Norwegians treat themselves to an array of meats including sausages, meatballs and pork and lamb ribs with sweet and sour cabbage, complemented with red wine.

Our own festive foods vary enormously, but thanks to our highly effective importing and exporting network, we are able to sample most of these delicacies without leaving the UK.

Whether you’re sipping on champagne or pina colada, watching the Queen’s Speech or surfing this December, we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Institute of Export!