How hot cross buns have conquered the shelves

Why did Woolworths dump its “spicy fruit buns” and put hot cross buns on the shelves all year round?

When Adriana van der Hoven asked Woolworths that question‚ mainly because she loves the buns but hates the “hard and horrible” cross traditionally put on at Easter‚ she was told local customer research and international trends had shown that customers prefer hot cross buns to “spicy fruit buns”.

This is despite them being the same thing‚ just without the tasteless flour-and-water cross. “Whilst Woolworths takes cognisance of all customer comments‚ we also need to take into account customers voting for the product through sales‚” the retailer told her.

In other words‚ hot cross buns sell like‚ well‚ hot cakes.

“Hot cross buns have shown phenomenal growth over the years and a majority of our customers identify with the product irrespective of the Christian connection over Easter‚” Woolworths said.

Van der Hoven was gobsmacked. “How does one ‘identify’ with a hot cross bun,” she asked.

For years Woolworths sold fruity‚ spicy buns‚ sometimes with a single stripe‚ but never a cross‚ all year‚ except for Easter‚ when it added the cross and called them hot cross buns.

In recent years the retailer has dared to sell the Easter buns‚ complete with cross‚ all year round‚ and has been rewarded with a spike in sales. Several UK retailers‚ including the largest‚ Tesco‚ have been selling hot cross buns all year round for more than a decade‚ adding extra varieties over Easter.