Co-op reveals what is flying off the ‘shELF’ – as parents prepare last minute for the return of the annual mischievous house guest

01 December 2025

Monday, 1 December, 2025: Love it or loathe it, today’s annual return of the mischievous elf has become a modern-day Christmas tradition for many families – and Co-op reveals the last minute online purchases of parents as they prepare for daily elf escapades, including double-digit jumps in online orders of flour; marshmallows; loo rolls and chocolate coins.

Co-op

Whether it is messages written in toothpaste, loo-roll zip wires or, snow angels or footprints in flour, the annual elf activity is all-too-often a last minute pursuit for many time-pressed parents.

Co-op today confirms the most popular items ordered through a dedicated ‘elf ideas’ online list (or bundle) it has created for the first time on shop.coop.co.uk, which delivers from store to door is as little as 60 minutes or less:

  1. Rainbow coloured multi-coloured sprinkles/strands - hundreds-and thousands (online orders of this product up 125% week-on-week)
  2. Sellotape (up 92%)
  3. Milk chocolate coins (up 73%)
  4. Plain white flour (up 62%)
  5. Skittles Fruits (up 56%)
  6. Marshmallows (up 23%)
  7. Loo roll (up 20%)
  8. Cling film (up 17%)
  9. Large tortilla wraps (up 10%)
  10. Aluminium foil (up 8%)

Scarlett Rhodes, Head of Q-Commerce - Last Mile and Customer, said: “The annual return of the mischievous elf has established itself as a modern-day tradition, but we know that at such a busy time of year, many parents are time-pressed and the daily elf escapade is all-too-often a last minute thought. Our focus is on taking the stress out of top-up or forgotten items – delivering what you want and need, quickly and conveniently."

For parents struggling for quick and easy elf escapades, a selection of ‘top-up’ elf ideas include:

• Elf swinging on a tinsel/loo roll swing or zip-wire
• Messages written in toothpaste
• Decorate eggs with funny faces
• Elf caught with flour and tray of mince pies / cookies
• Little footprints in flour / snow-angel in flour
• Elf tangled in sticky tape
• Warm and ‘toasty’ with hands / head through a slice of toast
• Story time / tea time with other toys
• Loo roll down the stairs (elf inside the tube)
• Elf rolled-up in tortilla wrap
• Caught with choc-spread on elf’s hands and face
• Elf with cotton-wool/marshmallow snow balls

< ends >

For quick and convenient online shopping, visit: shop.coop.co.uk

About Co-op:
Co-op Group is one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives, operating across food retail, funerals, insurance and legal services. Owned by over 6.9 million active member-owners, Co-op exists to meet their needs and champion the causes they care about. With more than 2,300 food stores, 800 funeral homes and a wholesale business supplying around 8,000 additional outlets, Co-op employs 53,000 colleagues and generates annual revenues of over £11 billion. It is a recognised leader in ethical business and community-led programmes, creating long-term value for members and communities across the UK.

Further information:

Andrew Torr, Lead Press Officer, Co-op Group.
t: +44 (0) 7702 505 551
e: andrew.torr@coop.co.uk

e: pressoffice@coop.co.uk