For the love of food

This week brings with it Shrove Tuesday (13 February – Happy Pancake Day) and Valentine’s Day (14 February – any excuse to eat chocolate), so I’m looking forward to indulging in some sweet treats.

According to Mintel, Valentine’s spending has overtaken that of Easter, with Brits spending £620 million on Valentine’s gifts last year, compared to the £575m spent at Easter – and it appears food and drink is the way to the nation’s heart. Food and drink consumed at home tops the list of products Brits spent the most on for Valentine’s Day 2017, at £128m. Spending on the traditional Valentine’s staple of confectionery also generated a significant amount (£53m).

Samantha Dover, retail analyst at Mintel, comments, “Valentine’s Day is now the biggest spending retail event in the first half of the year, overtaking Easter by a significant amount. This year we expect shoppers to trade up as retailers continue to increase their Valentine’s Day ranges with both premium and personalised gift options, and tapping into consumer demand for quality gifts.”

Shoppers are demanding personalisation, with six out of ten (59%) Valentine’s Day shoppers believing retailers should offer more options to personalise gifts. This resonates with some of the big trend predictions for the year ahead, with packaging in particular expected to respond to consumer demand for added convenience and personalised customer experiences.

Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign, which saw its logo replaced with popular UK names printed on its bottle labels, is an excellent example of the popularity of such personalisation; Share a Coke quickly became one of the company’s most successful marketing campaigns. Marmite and Nutella have also executed similar personalised label strategies to the delight of fans. And our latest news from Whitakers Chocolates details how the company is capitalising on the success of its personalised chocolate bar range with a new addition.

Speaking of Nutella, I’m off to enjoy Pancake Day…

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