West Midlands family-run business's popular Christmas puddings are going down a treat in Japan

Nana Lily’s first began selling its Christmas puddings in 2016 and they've become a big hit with local residents - and this winter, dessert fans in Japan will be able to enjoy the company’s home-made festive treats.

Inspired by a four-generation recipe, the tasty winter treat is now hitting the shelves in Japan thanks to support from the UK connecting the business with a local distributor.  

In 2024, the company sold 3,000 puddings in the run-up to Christmas, with orders set to rise to 5,000 this year. Nana Lily's has even taken orders from the Royal Family and the White House. 

Following success at home, the business is now expanding overseas.

In 2022, its co-founder Ellen Halpin-Barnett was introduced to the Doitsu Centre, a Japanese retailer, at a UK Government trade event at the Tower of London. After securing a deal with the distributor, the Government supported Nana Lily’s expansion into the country by helping the firm to navigate Japan’s complex customs regulations. This included supporting Nana Lily’s with translation services.   

Ellen Halpin-Barnett, founder of Nana Lily’s, said: “We’re thrilled that families across Japan will be enjoying Nana Lily’s Christmas puddings this year. Japan represents an exciting and rapidly growing market for us, and we’re committed to building on this success. Looking ahead, we see tremendous opportunities to expand our range including with our popular Christmas puddings and fruit cakes.” 

Since hitting the shelves in Japan, Nana Lily’s Christmas puddings have already proven a hit - with sales rising year-on-year. Nana Lily’s international footprint also continues to expand, with further orders secured in Germany and the US.  

Nana Lily’s is one of thousands of UK firms benefitting from the two Free Trade Agreements (FTA) the UK has with Japan, which are lowering the tariffs British companies facing when exporting. This includes the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trading bloc the UK joined one year ago with the potential to boost the UK economy by £2 billion a year.  

Foreign Office Minister, Seema Malhotra, is in Japan this week to meet with trade officials and discuss further opportunities for British businesses in the region.  

She said: “Nana Lily’s have perfected their recipes over four generations of pudding making and I’m delighted Japanese consumers are getting the chance to try them.

“Supporting fantastic British businesses like Nana Lily’s to access new markets abroad is a key part of the government’s work overseas to drive economic growth in the UK.

“This free trade is creating huge opportunities for businesses to expand and grow, supporting British business overseas is critical for our growth as a country.” 

Last year, the UK joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) - a trade agreement between 12 countries which is providing further certainty for UK businesses looking to expand to Japan.  

The UK’s accession to the group comes after the signing of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which came into force in 2021. Because of the deals, Nana Lily’s can export its puddings tariff-free, removing a tariff of up to 25 per cent.

The UK’s relationship with Japan has continued to flourish this year. In March 2025, the UK and Japan held a meeting between both countries’ Foreign and Business Ministers. The UK is the first country Japan has held such a dialogue with outside of the US, highlighting the close partnership.

The UK’s total bilateral trade with Japan is now worth more than £33 billion. Japanese investment into the UK has also doubled over the last decade, with nearly 1,000 Japanese companies sustaining around 200,000 UK jobs. UK exports to Japan also grew between 2024 to 2025 by nearly nine per cent to £16 billion.