Wonderful Pistachios is a well-known brand and its multi-billion dollar parent company, The Wonderful Co., invests heavily in marketing the little nuts as well as the company’s other products and brands, such as Pom Wonderful and Fiji Water.
Yet this coming holiday season is the first time consumers will be able to buy a holiday-themed package of Wonderful Pistachios. The No Shells Sweet Cinnamon flavor comes in festive holiday packaging and will be on shelves only through the holidays.
“The holiday season is the perfect time to introduce something new and exciting to consumers as there is a growing trend toward seasonal flavors,” says Diana Salsa, vice president of marketing for Wonderful Pistachios. “Consumers are actively seeking out limited-time offerings, which help drive brand relevance and excitement.”
Salsa and her colleagues have realized something that many other brands know: Holiday-themed products, despite the challenges of a limited selling season, are generally worth the hassle.
“Retailers are eager to carry our first-ever holiday-exclusive flavor as it attracts shoppers who are looking for unique, limited-time offerings,” Salsa says. “No Shells Sweet Cinnamon just launched a few weeks ago, and we’re optimistic about meeting our sales expectations. Initial consumer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Holiday’creep’ expands the season
The desire to buy products associated with the end-of-year holidays is stronger than ever, according to the 2024 Holiday Shopper Study by private brand consultant Daymon. Their data show that three-quarters of Gen X and younger shoppers plan to buy seasonally flavored items this holiday season.
But the definition of “holiday season” keeps stretching. The Daymon study found that some holiday products are being shipped as early as May – not only to beat the holiday rush but also to dodge any potential shipping problems – and 63% of shoppers are planning to start their holiday shopping earlier this year than in previous years.
And the “creep” is being embraced by many grocery outlets, according to Chelsey Capps, director of thought leadership at Daymon. “Fierce grocery competition is pushing seasonal sales earlier, and shoppers are buying in,” Capps says. “Food is seeing holiday creep as retailers and restaurants extend seasonality and compete to win over shoppers' wallets.”
Another study, the 84.51-Degree Real Time Insights Survey of Kroger shoppers, backs up what Daymon is seeing. 63% of respondents to that survey said they begin planning for the December holidays one to three months ahead of time, whereas they start planning for Halloween and Thanksgiving just two weeks to one month ahead.
And, good news for food processors, many of those shoppers plan to indulge in food this year – 43% of the survey respondents answered “food” when asked, “What categories are you planning to splurge on this upcoming holiday season?”
“Plain and simple, holiday seasonality is a demand from shoppers and contributes to loyalty – especially when it is leveraged for private brand programs,” Capps says. “And while last-minute shoppers will still be important to support, the majority of shoppers are looking to maximize budgets with strong promotions and extended selling periods.”
However, Capps warns that while the holiday season is starting sooner than ever and manufacturers may want to get their holiday products into the distribution chain earlier than in previous years, limited warehouse space needs to be taken into consideration. Warehouses full of summer products may not be able to accommodate holiday products that are not ready for the stores.
Holiday products need a long lead time
Whitakers Chocolates, a UK manufacturer of specialty chocolates, is offering several new holiday products in 2024, says Gemma Whitaker, the company’s marketing director.
“Whitakers Chocolates manufactures seasonal products every year, and we find them absolutely worthwhile from a sales perspective,” Whitaker says. “For instance, new for this year, we have dark chocolate and honeycomb crisps in Gingerbread and Festive Spice flavours, packaged in attractive hexagonal gift boxes. We’ve also relaunched our Vegan Chocolate Selection tin (Vegan Tin-Tations) for the second time due to popular demand.”
Whitaker reports that the vegan tin sold out rapidly when it was originally launched, and the two honeycomb crisp products have already outperformed any other seasonal launch the company has had, both in terms of pre-orders and sell-through once they hit store shelves. The company expects to sell out those products before the season ends, she says.
The planning for the holiday products begins about 18 months in advance, Whitaker says. Whitakers needs the time to perfect the recipes, choose package styles and finishes and finalize the artwork and branding.
Kayco Kosher, the parent company of the Manischewitz brand, also plans holiday products well in advance of the season, says says Shani Seidman, chief marketing officer of Kayco. In fact, 2025 products will be on the drawing board by the end of the 2024 holiday season.
Kayco is tapping into several holiday trends – ugly sweaters, sugar cookies and gingerbread houses – with its 2024 offerings. “The Manischewitz Ugly Sweater Chanukah Sugar Cookie Kit promises a blend of humor, tradition and taste,” Seidman says.
The Ugly Sweater kit includes sugar cookie mix, color powders, sprinkle mix, piping bags and a sweater-shaped cookie cutter. The Manischewitz Ready to Decorate Pre-Baked Sugar Cookie Kit includes 12 festive-shaped sugar cookies and decorative accompaniments, and the Manischewitz Chanukah House Cookie Kit comes with four icing colors, sprinkles, mini beads, six-point star and menorah sugar decorations and sanding sugar.
Seidman adds that her company’s products are designed to attract consumers regardless of their cultural background.
“Our products meet the needs of sweet holiday themes and using oil at the holiday as part of the Chanukah celebration for all to enjoy regardless of religion or background,” she says. “Our newly re-branded items are designed to attract consumers of all backgrounds and the culturally curious.”
Brian Audette, chief retail merchandising officer of UNFI, a grocery distributor, reinforces the importance of planning far in advance. He says that ideally, suppliers present holiday products to them in the first quarter. That way those products can be included in UNFI’s sales materials and offers.
“Around the holiday, we know that lead times on holiday products can vary,” Audette says. “So, we work with our suppliers and partners as far out in advance as we can to create that seamless experience and prepare them for the holiday seasons ahead. We typically conduct annual planning and finalize these plans quarterly.”
Partnerships with distributors, retailers are key
Obviously, the difference between holiday products and all others is the limit on their selling window. Nobody buys candy canes or gingerbread house kits on January 2, unless they are raiding the discount bin to stock up for the following holiday season.
That means manufacturers need to be more cautious when estimating production than with products that are not time-limited, and they need to make sure they are on the same page with their ingredient suppliers and their customers.
Naturally, companies with long experience creating holiday products have a leg up on planning. Kayco, for example, can draw on years of sales data to estimate production needs of their Ugly Sweater Chanukah Sugar Cookie Kits and other holiday-themed products, Seidman says.
Wonderful Pistachios, in contrast, cannot lean on past holiday sales data, since No Shells Sweet Cinnamon is its first holiday-themed product (though of course they have sold their other products during the holidays). But they are working closely with retailers to ensure that little product is left once the holiday lights are turned off.
“As a retail strategy, Wonderful Pistachios creates added visibility during the busy holiday season through eye-catching point-of-sale displays, which are proven to drive two times sales velocity,” Salsa says. “For Sweet Cinnamon, we’ve created a custom 72-count holiday display for retailers, with the option to add a festive balloon as an additional display accessory to help drive impulse purchases.”
Grocery stores are where the ultimate sales happen, but food manufacturers need to work with others in the chain as well. UNFI’s Audette explains that his company holds two annual shows focused on fall and holiday selling, where thousands of customers and suppliers meet.
“Prior to each show, our merchandising team develops holiday merchandising plans with our suppliers,” he says. “These offers are then displayed and booked at the show and then executed by retail customers. Additionally, we offer other merchandising programs and vehicles that highlight holiday merchandise to retail customers, such as catalogs, baking events, seasonal events, digital opportunities and circulars and ads.”
Limiting January left-overs
A well-planned and executed holiday product launch limits the risk of unsold product sitting on the shelves in January. And distributors, such as UNFI, prefer working with food processors who plan well. In fact, Audette says support from the supplier to ensure sell-through is a key criterion for how UNFI chooses the holiday products they will distribute.
“Consumer demand and sell-through are critical, so we typically require suppliers to pre-book quantities with our customers to ensure the product’s sell-through and limit the potential liability of inventory shrink,” he says.
Nevertheless, in some cases, products do not sell out. Seidman says Kayco has a good solution: Holiday products that they over-produce are donated to charitable groups before the expiration dates.
“There will always be challenges when it comes to seasonal demand planning,” Daymon’s Capps says. “Collectively working towards the right product reaching the right shopper at the right time – and an on-point sell-through strategy – certainly helps.”
