Scottish hotel ‘BANS’ mince pies this Christmas: Bosses announce decision not to serve festive treat for the first time in 53 years due to ‘years of low demand and high wastage’

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A hotel has made the decision to ‘ban’ mince pies from their festive menu for the first time in 53 years due to ‘years of low demand and high wastage’. 

Guests at the Glynhill Hotel & Spa in Renfrew, Glasgow, will instead be offered alternative dessert options.

These will include a cheesecake of the day with vanilla ice cream, sticky toffee pudding, a banana split and mixed fruit pavlova. 

Are you in hospitality? Are you also banning mince pies? Email [email protected]  

Other choices at the 147-room hotel will include a brownie sundae and vegan chocolate fudge cake. 

Chef Willie Millar said: ‘Every year, we buy them, we serve them, then with a very few exceptions we bin them – which feels like an awful waste.

Chef Willie Millar (pictured) said most of the mince pies the hotel orders at Christmas are discarded

Alternative dessert options at the Glynhill Hotel & Spa (pictured) will include a cheesecake of the day with vanilla ice cream, sticky toffee pudding, a banana split and mixed fruit pavlova

The mince pie tradition 

Mince pies have been around for centuries but have changed beyond recognition since their first mention from records from the 14th century. 

They were much bigger, oval-shaped and originally filled with meat.

They also contained the ingredients they are filled with today – dried fruit, nuts and spices.

The combination of very sweet ingredients with savoury was very common in medieval times – especially if you were rich. 

Mince pies also used to be much larger, as they were designed to feed a large medieval crowd. 

The first mention of mince pies being seasonal was in 1557, according to Zester Daily, and it is thought that the custom of eating them at Christmas began around then, if not earlier. 

‘Not very many people at all seem to like them, even less want them at the end of their meal, so it feels like a bit of a no-brainer to simply ban them this Christmas and focus on offering desserts and sweet treats which our customers do want.

‘We think we might be the first venue in Scotland to remove mince pies from their Christmas menus but it’s in line with customer feedback – and will also mean a reduction in wastage which can only be a good thing.

‘Bye bye mince pies. Gone… and forgotten!’

The hotel, which charges an average rate of £85 per night, said the reaction has been mostly positive. 

But shocked locals took to social media to share their outrage about the end of the mince pies.  

One person wrote ‘I love them!’

Another said: ‘Get your kitchen to make their own! People don’t want to pay a premium for something we can buy in the shops.’

Mr Millar said the hotel usually ordered around 5,000 mince pies every year to cater for Christmas parties and events. 

But a staggering 80 per cent of them ended up in bin bags, according to the chef. 

More than 70 million mince pies are thrown away across the UK every year, according to estimates. 

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