Dive Brief:
- U.S. consumer and corporate food gifting sales are expected to approach $18 billion this year, a 3.5% increase over 2015, according to a new Packaged Facts report.
- Boxed chocolates and candies remain the leading food gift with 28% of food gifters purchasing them for someone in the past year. These are followed by sweet baked gift foods; coffee, tea and hot chocolate gifts; and nut and salty snack gifts.
- Winter holidays continue to be the top time of year for food gifting, with nearly half of food gifters saying they purchased food gifts for that time of year. Birthdays and Valentine's Day are also popular food gifting occasions.
Dive Insight:
Food gifts offer manufacturers a unique opportunity to reach new consumers because recipients may receive a product they may not normally buy for themselves. If consumers are impressed by the product and packaging after receiving it as a gift, they may be more likely to buy the product for themselves or as gifts for other people.
To leverage the full potential of food gifts, manufacturers have to ensure they have an e-commerce strategy in place. Consumers are shopping online more, especially for holiday gifts. If gift-friendly products are only available in stores, manufacturers could be losing out on a significant portion of their potential consumer base.
With the winter holidays just around the corner, manufacturers are likely already considering new product formulations and packaging that could be better suited for food gifting. Last year, Mondelez introduced Oreo Colorfilled and Hershey debuted Hershey's Kisses Deluxe in time for the holidays. Mondelez integrated e-commerce and personalization of the packaging to make its legacy Oreos brand more gift-friendly. Hershey created a new recipe for its iconic Kisses to align with premium chocolate products, which are common food gift items.
Consumer food gifting makes up the bulk of sales, which Packaged Facts expects to increase by 2.5% over last year. Sales for corporate food gifting, though smaller, should increase by 4% due in part to positive employment trends and the expansion of companies and services specializing in corporate food gift baskets. Manufacturers that partner with these companies could have their products featured in corporate gift baskets, either exclusively or with other brands and manufacturers.