Millions of children will wake up on Easter morning and see their baskets full of jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, circus peanuts and, of course, Peeps.
And while the treats will be enjoyed, many don’t know how candy became associated with Easter in the first place.
Annie Meehan, senior associate brand manager for seasonal marketing at Mars Chocolate North America, said Easter is one of the top holidays for U.S. consumers to treat themselves with candy.
“In fact, 75% of Americans say they have enjoyed chocolate or candy with friends and family on Easter,” she told Food Dive. “One of the most popular sweet treats associated with Easter are chocolate eggs, which actually date back to the early 19th century. The egg-shaped jelly bean became associated with Easter in the 1930s.”
Bill Brown, founder and chief chocolate officer at Florida-based gourmet chocolatier William Dean, said the association of chocolate with Easter is relatively new. The sweet really didn’t start to become available to most people until the 1800s.
“The first chocolate Easter bunnies came from Germany, but very quickly the U.S. also was making them,” he told Food Dive. “Easter also has a very strong tie in with spring and the Easter Bunny was a sign of spring and fertility. The Easter Bunny would bring colored eggs to children and later on, as our confections and chocolate skills increased, these items and small gifts [were included] as well.”
"The Easter Bunny would bring colored eggs to children and later on, as our confections and chocolate skills increased, these items and small gifts [were included] as well.”
Bill Brown
Founder and chief chocolate officer, William Dean
The Hershey Company first began producing seasonal packaging for Easter in the late 1920s. Popular seasonal offerings like the Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg was introduced in 1967. Hershey’s Kisses started being wrapped in springtime shades of pastel blue, pink and green foil in 1968.
Tashima Garner, Hershey’s senior associate brand manager for Easter, said according to a 2017 company survey, nearly 39% of respondents said that chocolate and candies are essential to the Easter celebration, and 29% say they plan on creating an Easter basket this year.
According to 2015 Nielsen data cited by Garner, Hershey owns the top five most popular Easter items. It also owns the top two overall brands: Reese’s and Cadbury.
“More and more consumers enjoy trying new flavors and are drawn to shaped products. Hershey offers new innovations and spring-inspired packaging on classic items, which excite and delight consumers, such as the Hershey’s Kisses Carrot Cake Candies, fan-favorite Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs and classic Cadbury Crème Eggs,” Garner told Food Dive in an email.
As for Peeps, the popular marshmallow candy first came to the U.S. in 1953, when candy manufacturer Just Born acquired the Rodda Candy Company and its marshmallow chick line. Easter baskets started featuring them soon after.
The transformation of Easter candy
RetailMeNot’s top 5 Easter Treats of 2017 include Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Eggs, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, Hershey’s Eggs, and Peeps. While those are some of the same candy people have loved for years, there are new treats penetrating the Easter market.
This Easter season, Hershey created a series of GIFs and videos featuring the Easter Bunny and Reese’s mascot Cuppy “teaming up” to make the “Best Easter Ever.”
“The idea for the videos was to take Cuppy’s contagiously confident humor and create shareable video assets for our Reese’s fans to enjoy,” Garner said. “These GIFs and videos bring Cuppy to life and are a fun way to promote him as the Easter Bunny’s new sidekick and showcase the breadth of the Easter portfolio and products. It also provides consumers the opportunity to engage with Cuppy as they haven’t before on social media.”
Another Reese’s innovation this year was the creation of the Reese’s Egg Finder. The tool allows fans to tag where they’ve found Reese’s eggs and crowdsources the data so consumers can search for the nearest retail location that has the eggs in stock. They can also tag locations on the map where they find the eggs.
In addition to the traditional items, Meehan said that over the years, consumers have continued to celebrate Easter with favorite Mars’ brands like M&M’s, Dove, Snickers, Skittles and Starburst.
“When purchasing Easter candy, consumers are looking for the colors and shapes of the Easter season in the brands and flavors they’ve grown to love,” she said. “...[Mars continues] adapting our top-selling brands to ensure products capture the look and feel of the season and capture holiday rituals like basket building, baking and egg hunts.”
“...[Mars continues] adapting our top-selling brands to ensure products capture the look and feel of the season and capture holiday rituals like basket building, baking and egg hunts.”
Annie Meehan
Senior associate brand manager for seasonal marketing, Mars Chocolate North America
Other companies are looking to offer something different and start new Easter traditions. Some artisan companies are creating more elaborate chocolate bunnies and eggs with premium chocolate that large companies just can’t replicate.
Jennifer Constantine, founder and CEO of inventive goodies brand JC’s, said companies are expanding beyond run-of-the-mill chocolate and marshmallow treats. Now, manufacturers are attracting consumers with fruit infused goodies, bright colors and classic flavors.
“For JC’s, spring has always been an exciting time for us because that’s when we release seasonal flavors of JC’s Pie Bites,” she told Food Dive. “Our poppable truffles … are creamy and lush on the inside with a punch of crunch on the outside. We also change the packaging a bit to feature a subtle floral design to celebrate the season.”
Brown feels there is a lot of competition to bring something new, different and modern to the Easter game.
“As an artisan chocolate company, we work every day in making hand-painted and artistic products. Easter has become the time for us to be as creative and artistic as possible,” he said. “Most companies are doing variations of what worked before but with different shapes/flavors etc. [than] I remember growing up.”
The skinny on sweet treats
When it comes to Easter treats, the conventional confectioners always crave chocolate. Seasonal treats are a part of people’s fondest childhood memories and nowadays, consumers are embracing the idea of controlled indulgence.
Numerous studies have shown that during holidays like Easter, consumers want to treat themselves. According to the National Confectioners Association, almost 90% of U.S. parents who celebrate with baskets said they will help the Easter Bunny fill them with candy or chocolate.
“That said, Mars understands that chocolate is a treat, not a meal or snack,” Meehan said. “We’re committed to producing a wide variety of lower calorie options throughout the year because we know consumers never want to compromise on taste when enjoying their favorite treats.”
One thing almost everyone can agree on is that Easter chocolate is not going away anytime soon.
“When you look at a checkout line at a grocery store today, you still see all the familiar ‘impulse’ treats waiting to ride the conveyor belt, but unlike years past, you do see many healthier snack options like fruit bars, nut bars with less sugar, etc.,” Brown said. “I think the movement toward healthier snacks will be away from pure sugar sweets and chocolate will always be a stable as a sweet that is satisfying but can also have less sugar, especially at Easter time.”