On August 16, Dunkin’ announced the start of the “fall” pumpkin spiced beverage season. Starbucks started selling their pumpkin drinks on August 24th.
“Pumpkin creep” has been an emerging trend for retailers hoping to capitalize on early consumer excitement and to capture more of the back-to-school market share.
…according to data from SpotOn, which found 602 pumpkin-flavored items were added to restaurant menus between July 8 and August 7. The additions constituted a 2,200% increase in pumpkin items added since July 1. The vast majority of these products (about 65%) were beverages. 1.
7-Eleven pushed the earliest release ever of their pumpkin-flavored coffee drinks to August 1st, one of the hottest days of the year.
Pumpkin spice has become well-established as the comfort flavor of fall.
Consumers have continued to spend more on pumpkin products over the last five years, up from $563.6 million five years ago, to about $802.5 million on pumpkin over the past 12 months, according to data from NielsenIQ. 2.
Pumpkin This and Pumpkin That
You might be forgiven if you would think one version of pumpkin-spiced coffee would be plenty for a brand. Oh, no. There are infinite variations.
Starbucks started with the Pumpkin Spice Latte 20 years ago. Now you can pick from that, or: Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino Chilled Coffee Drink, Iced Espresso Pumpkin, Pumpkin Spice Flavored creamers, at-home Pumpkin Spice Flavored Coffee or K-Cup pods.
Caribou Coffee pushed its pumpkin-flavored drinks out a week earlier this year than last year. They offer 15 different pumpkin drinks, from Pumpkin Iced Crafted Press to the new Pumpkin Espresso Shaker, which mixes espresso with pureed pumpkin with ice and oat milk.
It’s Not Just Pumpkin Spiced Coffee
Pumpkin-spiced food of all sorts has gained momentum in restaurants and grocery stores.
Dunkin’ offerings, aside from pumpkin-spiced coffee drinks include: the Pumpkin Cake Donut, Pumpkin Munchkins Donut Hole Treats, and Pumpkin Muffins and even Goldfish Dunkin’ Pumpkin Spice Grahams.
Not to be outdone, Krispy Kreme has brought back their two original and cake pumpkin spice doughnuts along with two new ones: the Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Swirl Doughnut and Pumpkin Spice Maple Pecan Doughnut.
At IHOP, you can now get the Pumpkin Spice Pancake Combo and Pumpkin Spice Cold Foam Cold Brew.
There are even Pumpkin Spice Cheerios from Kellog along with Frosted Mini-Wheats Pumpkin Spice, Frosted Flakes Pumpkin Spice and Special K Pumpkin Spice cereals.
Pumpkin to Rescue Craft Beer?
Pumpkin-spiced beers also seem to arrive earlier and earlier each year. Samuel Adams and Dogfish Head released their pumpkin beers at the beginning of August.
Pumpkin Spiced beers have provided a boon to the craft brew industry. Craft beers have struggled to keep growing in recent years, but seasonal beers have provided real strength to the sector.
Sales figures bear that out. Seasonal beers typically account for 9%-10% of total craft beer sales during the year, but during the fall – when pumpkin beers and Oktoberfest beers dominate – seasonals’ share rises to the 12% to 14% range, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting, a Shelton, Connecticut firm, which services the alcoholic beverage industry and uses NielsenIQ data. 2.
Pumpkin for All
Clearly, pumpkin flavoring has become an economic driver for the food and beverage industry. Will “Pumpkin Creep” spoil it by making it less special? Only time will tell. But for now, we all get to try new ways of having pumpkin flavor mixed into almost anything we might want to eat and drink!
2. usatoday.com
Recent Comments