Easter was celebrated by 44.5 million people in the UK in 2024, with an estimated £2bn spent across the country.
Around 80-90 million Easter eggs are purchased across the UK every year, according to Food Manufacture.
And AHDB data reveals £100 million was spent on Easter eggs and confectionery in the week leading up to Easter this year.
Packaging firm GWP Group claims chocolates at Easter contribute to 10% of Britain’s overall spend on chocolate.
While financial worries meant Easter 2024 was a lower priority for 49% of gift buyers, almost seven in ten of consumers still purchased gifts, according to Mintel.
Instead of opting out entirely, people managed costs by buying gifts on discount and by hand crafting their own gifts, demonstrating that even in tough times, gift-giving remained an important element of Easter celebrations.
Easter spending grew 5.1% in 2024, Mintel data reveals.
A continued improvement in financial confidence over the next year will create a more positive environment for the Easter market in 2025.
Value will still be important and promotions ahead of the event will continue to drive demand, but a more financially secure consumer base may give greater opportunity to trade shoppers up while some pre-planning to find the best deal may fall away meaning more last-minute demand.
Phil Hulme, Commercial Director, Kervan Gida UK, comments: “The planning for all Easter displays should be completed by the end of December so that depots receive the required stock, media and creative assets in enough time to make an impact. Easter confectionery displays should go live nine weeks into the new year in wholesalers.
“As Easter is such a short, seasonal period, all confectionery subcategories should go out on promotion at the same time. This is to ensure maximum sales during the limited time where there is a high intent to purchase Easter themed confectionery. It’s key that front-of-depot displays create a buzz around the season and the products are priced competitively to ensure they perform well.”
Easter sugar confectionery as a subcategory works as a great alternative treat on Easter Egg hunts, so being paired with chocolate and Easter Eggs is vital. Easter confectionery is popular in any seasonal box or gift hamper which may be accompanied by gifts such as cuddly Easter bunnies and chicks, children’s books etc. Being paired with seasonal baking and crafting sets is also a great way to drive cross category traction at Easter.
The latest trend in confectionery, particularly among GenZ, is experimenting and pushing the boundaries with new flavours and textures. In 2025, watch out for ‘liquid fill technology’ being used more in gummy sweets to create enhanced juicy textures with gooey centres. This also adds an extra flavour boost with dual complementary flavours making up the gummy outer and the liquid centre.
2025 will see an innovation for Bebeto with the first launch of its liquid filled gummy sweets. Bebeto is elevating the standard fried egg gummy with its Bebeto Runny Eggs. These are available in 130g bags and will be the only brand providing fully liquid filled re-packs in the wholesale market. Runny eggs are not a standard fried egg gummy, as each has a gooey, liquid filled centre in the yolk, and come in mango, orange and peach flavours. This creates a whole new experience that confectionery fans are looking for.
This new innovation will be accompanied by Bebeto Spring
Parade 150g, which is a standard gummy and a celebration of all things Easter containing: chicks, Easter eggs, bunnies and sheep. These come in three fruity flavours: raspberry, kiwi and passionfruit.
”Bebeto is flying, with increased distribution across the marketplace. We are the fastest growing manufacturer brand, growing +48% MAT (Circana), and planned growth of +40.7% for 2023/24. We’re a very strong, challenger brand,” adds Hulme.
“We’ve been taking space on shelf in the last few years, and we have a strong activation plan for 2024 and more major retailer listings coming up. We have total UK sales of £40m (Circana), of which 60% is brand and 40% is private label (Circana).
Kathryn Hague, Head of Marketing at Hancocks, comments: “Easter is a huge event with massive customer appeal. 70% of customers plan to celebrate Easter through buying into Easter categories. The longer season of Easter in 2025 should result in an increase in units sold, specifically in impulse and lower value items.”
There is a huge increase in demand for chocolate and sugar confectionery over the Easter period, as with more seasonal sales times. During this time, it is essential to keep core £1-£2 and £3-£4 price points to appeal to varying shopper needs.
Some of the best-selling confectionery categories from Hancocks’ 2024 range included candy cups, self-eat and novelty.
Bonds Chick n Mix Candy Cup, Candy Bliss Candy Cup, Rainforest Mix Candy Cup and Paw Patrol Candy Cup all performed well with customers. The pre-packaged pick and mix cups are filled to the brim with tasty treats.
Bonds Duckling Marshmallow Bag and Bonds Bunny Faces Bag each contain brightly coloured, seasonal themed treats with a new and improved design. These were another top-seller during the seasonal sales period and are set to make a return for this year’s range.
“Retailers should stock up on best-selling lines to make the most of seasonal sales and meet customer needs,” adds Hague.
“Consumers are gravitating more towards brands they recognise and trust. Bonds have established themselves as a trusted British brand, with over 120 years of experience in the confectionery industry and a wealth of knowledge on Britain’s favourite confectionery classics.”
Hancocks has shared its new range of products for Easter 2025. Seasonal ranges are always a huge hit with customers. Each year, customers seek more exciting and interesting products for Easter time. This means non-chocolate confectionery treats are sought out for sweet tables at Easter parties and for use in party bags.
New for the 2025 range are the PEZ Easter dispensers, featuring vibrant and fun Easter characters including a rabbit, chick, sheep and an Easter egg – available in both impulse and blister pack formats with 1 and 2 PEZ candy refills.
More seasonal launches include the Candy Realms Spring Jelly Pops, which are due to be a hit with younger customers at an RRP of only 50p. The brightly coloured spring-themed treats should stand out on shelves and are a great impulse line to offer as an alternative to the classic Easter chocolate. Also new to the Candy Realms Easter range are the Spring Mallows and Spring Mallow Pops.
Bonds are also expanding their seasonal range for Easter 2025. The new Chick Mix Candy Cup joins their range of top-selling cups. The new Chick Mix cup contains fruity flavoured sour sticks, sour peach rings, duckling marshmallows and gummy fried eggs.
These tasty treats make the perfect Easter mash up, perfect for gifting and sharing.
PAW Patrol and SpongeBob SquarePants Candy Containers are also joining Hancocks’ range of novelty treats this year. The products come with a sweet treat, sticker and cable accessory. The low price point of £1 makes them the perfect budget-friendly Easter treat for younger customers.
Cadbury, the nation’s favourite chocolate brand (Nielsen) is launching a Creme Egg competition in the run-up to Easter 2025, asking retailers across the country ‘How Do You Display Yours?’
The ‘How Do You Display Yours?’ competition invites retailers to dip into their imaginations and share their most innovative and eye-catching Cadbury Creme Egg displays. Any retailer who shares an idea via a specially-created form on SnackDisplay.co.uk – Mondelez International’s trade-focused advice and information site – will be entered into a competition to win £1,000 worth of vouchers for first place, with four runner-up prizes ranging from £250 to £500 vouchers and 25 x £25 vouchers up for grabs for the remaining winners.
The competition is a fantastic opportunity for retailers to get creative and entice consumers into stores and mirrors the consumer-facing ‘Admit It, How Do You Eat Yours?’ campaign.
Carianne Robertson, Brand Executive for Cadbury Creme Egg, said, “We’re really excited to be taking the annual ‘How Do You Eat Yours?’ campaign to a platform that retailers can engage with directly. Given the enthusiasm towards ‘How Do You Eat Yours?’ we wanted to create an opportunity for retailers to capitalise on consumer engagement, with the addition of 30 prizes to give further support and thanks to the retailers who have supported Cadbury throughout its 200-year history.”
Cadbury Creme Egg has been an icon of the season for over half a century, with 3.7 packs sold every second (Nielsen). In 2024 the brand expanded its Creme Egg portfolio, launching the Cadbury Creme Egg Tablet, which sold a bumper 4.6 million units nationwide, making it the #1 NPD (Mondelez) for the entire Easter 2024 season.
What’s more, Cadbury Mini Eggs sold 11 million more units than in 2023 (Mondelez) meaning shoppers are still looking to enjoy the iconic chocolate Easter treat. The mini-beasts of the Easter market remain the number one Easter SKU (Nielsen) with the highest penetration (Nielsen) of any Easter brand in the UK.
The Cadbury Mini Egg 110g and 360g sharing bars also had another successful Easter and were the #1 and #3 SKU (Nielsen) respectively in the sharing novelties category in 2024.
Mondelez International grew ahead of the Easter category in 2024 by almost 4% (Nielsen) and remains the number one (Nielsen) supplier at Easter time. To make the most of the season, retailers should split Easter into three phases: getting off to a fast start (from 1st January to Valentine’s Day), building momentum (from Valentine’s Day on 14th February, to Mother’s Day on 10th March), and then gearing up for a ‘gifting finish’ for the last three weeks the period reaches its finale.
The ‘fast start’ phase focuses on shoppers looking for small treats for themselves, such as Cadbury Creme Egg and Cadbury Mini Eggs.
Mondelez has these top tips for a fast start to the season.
Be ready on day one of the season with sufficient stock of seasonal self-eat and sharing favourites from well-loved brands, such as Cadbury Creme Egg and Cadbury Mini Eggs.
Create awareness of the season with your customers using campaigns, competitions and promotions as a talking point.
Use POS from shoppers’ favourite Easter brands to highlight products and optimise incremental sales.
For more expert confectionery and seasonal advice, retailers can visit www.snackdisplay.co.uk, and should stay tuned for the full Easter 2024 seasonal line-up.
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