We wish you a merry… Easter
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas as shops sell crackers, wreaths and turkeys
TURKEY crowns, crackers, baubles, wreaths and stollen … these traditional components of the festive season always fly off the shelves at Christmas.
But in an apparent attempt to make the tills ring twice a year, they are now being repackaged by supermarkets – as Easter products.
And if that wasn’t enough of a seasonal mix-up, Mother Nature is following the stores’ lead, with snow likely to fall over much of the country as we tuck into our hot cross buns this year too.
According to tradition, fish should be eaten on Good Friday and lamb on Easter Sunday. However, a glance at the supermarket shelves reveals an increasing number of Christmas-style alternatives.
At Aldi, turkey crown is on sale as an Easter product, along with pigs in blankets, blue stilton and smoked salmon.
And Waitrose is stocking an eggshaped panettone, a traditional Italian Christmas cake, with chocolate chips instead of the usual dried fruit. The supermarket makes no effort to mask the sales ploy. Stuart Owens, Waitrose product developer, said: ‘Panettone is a popular choice with our customers and we want to offer them the chance to enjoy it outside of the festive period.’
Meanwhile, Marks and Spencer’s ‘Easter entertaining’ section includes a turkey breast joint and a turkey with stuffing dish. And British branches of Dutch store Hema are selling ‘Easter stollen’ – a variation on the traditional German Christmas cake.
‘This is far more strategic than supermarkets wheeling out their old Christmas stock,’ said Charles Banks, co-founder at food trends firm The Food People. ‘The UK has a uniquely competitive supermarket culture. This drives innovation as companies fight for differentiation by developing new products.
‘ Supermarkets are targeting consumers with food that they already associate with celebration, family time and relaxation.’
The stores aren’t just rebranding food – Easter wreaths, many with egg decorations, are being sold by Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and notonthehighstreet.com.
And to further upset traditionalists, shops are even stocking designer Easter trees, baubles and crackers.
However, chocolate remains the big seller. Researchers Mintel say we spend £375million a year on Easter confectionery, around 70 per cent of all Easter spending.
A Met Office spokesman said it will get ‘increasingly colder’ across the UK later this week, although conditions should not be as bad as recent icy snaps. Temperatures will drop below freezing during the nights, while northern and central areas face the possibility of snow over the Easter weekend.
Nine in ten Easter eggs don’t have the word ‘Easter’ on the front of the packaging, The Sun newspaper claimed yesterday.
Critics said selling chocolate eggs with no mention of Easter was ‘cynical’.
‘Competitive culture in supermarkets’