Christmas 2026 in the kiosk: trending items worth stocking

Why preparation starts now

Christmas trade does not start on 1 December. Advent calendars need to be on the shelf before then, and seasonal stock is limited. Ordering in late October or early November gives you the widest choice.

At the same time, there is no need to fill your storeroom. A good seasonal plan has three steps: order early, test small quantities, reorder what sells. The timeline further down shows how that works in practice.

Advent calendars: the item with a fixed deadline

New in our range is the Dumpling Advent Calendar with squishies behind 24 doors, available with German packaging and with English packaging. The English version suits shops with international customers or online sellers who also serve English-speaking buyers.

Advent calendars sell in the weeks before 1 December. Put them on display by mid-November at the latest, at the counter or near the entrance. Once Advent has begun, demand naturally drops. Plan your first quantity carefully and rather reorder once in early November.

Christmas squishies for the counter

Christmas-themed squishies are classic small gifts for children and fit nicely into a stocking. The MDH range includes the Christmas Butter Squishy, Grinch Dumpling Squishy, Christmas Cube, Reindeer Cube Squishy, Xmas Tree Squishy and the Merry Christmas Heads. See the overview under Christmas squishies wholesale.

A separate Christmas display next to your year-round squishies makes the season visible in the shop. Our guide to selling squishies explains placement and reordering in general.

Expect a short selling window for Christmas designs. From mid-December, reorder only the designs that are clearly selling in your shop; whatever is left after the holidays is hard to sell.

Red Bull editions in the fridge

Drink editions are an easy way to refresh your fridge for the season. Red Bull Glacier Ice Raspberry (The Glacier Edition) is one of our most requested items, alongside Red Bull Iced Vanilla Berry with an RRP of €2.49. Both come in 250 ml cans.

Put the editions at the front of the fridge, where customers see them first when they open the door. Special editions are often available for a limited time only, so holiday stock is worth planning. Flavours and case sizes are on our Red Bull wholesale page. When setting your shelf price, remember that Red Bull and LOTTE Milkis cans carry the German deposit.

Takis and Buldak as small gifts

Spicy snacks make good small gifts for teenagers and young adults, for example for Secret Santa at school, in clubs or at the office. Many people know Takis Fuego, Blue Heat and Queso Volcano and Samyang Buldak from spicy challenges, which makes them a gift that gets people talking.

A seasonal tip: set up a small gift corner, for instance a bag of Takis, a pack of Buldak and a can of LOTTE Milkis side by side. Customers who need a quick Secret Santa gift find an idea right away. Takis flavours are listed under Takis wholesale.

A small sign saying “Gift idea” or “For Secret Santa” is often enough for customers to see the corner as an offer. It also helps to change the combination slightly each week so regulars discover something new.

Drinks for the holidays and New Year's Eve

Besides Red Bull, eye-catching Korean drinks belong on the seasonal shelf: LOTTE Milkis in Original, Banana, Strawberry and Melon, and Cantabile Ade in several fruit flavours. For children, AMIGO fruit drinks and iced tea in the 200 ml format work well, for example AMIGO Ice Tea Lemon with an RRP of €0.49. The small format also fits into gift bags that parents put together for St Nicholas Day.

In our experience, kiosks see more demand for drinks around New Year's Eve. Plan a reorder for the week before the turn of the year and keep in mind that public holidays can slow down delivery. All flavours are on our drinks wholesale page.

The timeline: order early, test, reorder

Late October to early November: order advent calendars and Christmas squishies, plus a first batch of trending snacks and drink editions. Set up your displays.

Mid-November: check sales. Reorder what sold well over two weeks. Give slow items a better spot or do not repeat them.

December: reorder only what you need, in small quantities. With no minimum order value and delivery across Germany usually within 24–48 hours, you can still react at short notice in December. Collection in Mettmann remains free.

After Christmas: group leftover seasonal stock at the counter and write down what sold well. Those notes are the best basis for next year's planning.

Open your trade account in good time

If you do not have a trade account with MDH yet, now is the time. Registration takes about 3 minutes and approval usually 1–2 working days. Your business registration or a commercial register extract serves as proof. After that you see all prices and volume tiers and can order your seasonal stock.

If an existing MDH customer referred you, their referral code gives you €25 off your first order of €200 net or more.

Missed the start of the season? You can still join in. With no minimum order value, even a small Christmas order of a few cases makes sense, for example Christmas squishies for the counter and a Red Bull edition for the fridge.