As the year quietly winds down for many consumers, the shopping season ramps up considerably for retailers as they prepare for the inevitable holiday rush. According to the National Retail Federation, record spending is expected during this holiday season and increases between 3-4% over last year are expected — absolutely justifying the holiday season as one of vital importance when making product mix decisions for your store. Below are some quick data-supported tips from SPINS to help ensure your shelves are primed and prepped for the holiday set.
Celebration Selections
With the New Year’s holiday comes many a social gathering, and in reviewing SPINS sales data from the final week of 2022 we saw that savvy hosts were stocking up on a lot more than just champagne. Consumers leaned toward natural sodas in the week leading up to New Year’s 2022, with brands like Olipop and Poppi driving unit growth +39% from the year prior. As consumers made purchases for their New Year’s Eve charcuterie boards, they tended to reach for more natural cheeses. Montchevre and Vermont Creamery helped unit growth reach +6% in this segment. Finally, hummus stands out as an excellent choice for party food as consumers increasingly gravitate toward more natural options, as evidenced by brands like Cedars and Esti pushing this category up +14%.
Lunar New Year
In 2024, Lunar New Year begins on Saturday, Feb. 10. Lunar New Year is a time of celebration observed by many Asian cultures where families gather and share well wishes and a large meal with friends and loved ones. Though the traditional dishes served during this time vary among cultures, several of these dishes often have a symbolic meaning tied to prosperity and can be staples consumed year-round. Related segments with a high seasonality index in January-February include dumplings ($31m annual sales), soy sauce ($27m), spring rolls ($19m) and green tea ($17M).
Embracing New Year’s Resolutions
As the new year commences, products bearing a health halo invariably experience strong initial performance, and this holds true for the realm of plant-based meat. Despite recent challenges faced by this category, there are noteworthy areas of optimism. Several nascent, yet promising subcategories are showing strong sales growth year-over-year and are poised to grace the frozen aisle as we move into 2024. These include frozen plant-based meatballs (+16%), other frozen plant-based meat, e.g., fillets, steaks, wings (+16%), frozen plant-based dinner sausage (+32%) and plant-based meat snacks like jerky (+35%).
Keep these categories in mind when planning end-of-year promotions and know that SPINS data is always available and just a few clicks away. Have a productive holiday season and a prosperous new year!
Source: SPINS Natural Channel and Conventional
