Cracking the Easter 2022 opportunity

With Easter 2022 set to fall in the middle of April, local retailers have an extra tasty chance to profit.

by Gaelle Walker

Lamb and mint, salt and caramel, chocolate and orange: Life is full of perfect pairings and Easter 2022 is already looking set to deliver even more cracking combos as manufacturers strive to set the holiday hopping.

Leading the charge for 2022 is Mondelēz International and its latest innovation for Cadbury, a Dairy Milk Hot Cross Bun Bar.

With a unique cinnamon spiced crunch, the new chocolate bar is designed to unite two of Easter’s favourite flavours in one bite.

And, thanks to the later timing of Easter this year (with Easter Sunday falling two weeks later than in 2021, on 17 April 2022) Mondelēz says there is a real opportunity to grow sales over the longer season.

With over half of Easter confectionery actually consumed before Easter, the 2022 Easter opportunity looks set to be particularly sweet for those stores who capture spend from the start.

In-fact, to make the most of the season, Mondelēz recommends that retailers split Easter into three phases: getting off to a quick start, building momentum, and then gearing up for a ‘gifting finish’ as the festive period reaches its finale.

The first of these phases, ‘fast start’, runs from January until Valentine’s Day on 14 Febuary and focuses on shoppers looking for small treats for themselves, such as Cadbury Crème Egg and Cadbury Mini Eggs.

“With around three quarters of shoppers who purchase Easter confectionery early intending to buy again, it’s important to have the products they’re looking for to meet these consumers’ shopping expectations,” Mondelēz International trade communications manager Susan Nash says.

Sharing bags and tablet formats, such as Cadbury Mini Eggs and the new for last year Cadbury Mini Eggs Tablet, will then help stores to build up Easter momentum through March, while in the third phase from early April until Easter Sunday, larger gifting Easter eggs and hunt mixes will do their bit to sweeten sales for retailers.

And while indulgent flavour fusions, eggcellent promotions and gifting formats will hopefully help to deliver a cracking season of sales; sustainability also looks set to remain high on the Easter agenda for both manufacturers and consumers as a growing proportion of the latter hunt out products that are as sweet to the planet as they are to eat.

Last year saw Mondelēz International remove over 6.4 million plastic windows from its chocolate eggs, taking 5.4 tonnes of plastic out of the environment and making them easier for consumers to recycle.

The change covered Cadbury, Bournville, Fry’s, Green & Black’s, Maynard’s Bassets and Oreo eggs.

The company also reviewed the cardboard cartons for its shell egg range and was able to remove a further 108 tonnes of cardboard using 100% sustainably sourced cardboard as part of its ‘Pack Light and Pack Right’ strategy.