Key innovation trends from retailers’ Easter 2024 range previews

Recent weeks have seen a swathe of new seasonal products land on shelves, offering insight into the categories and flavour combinations retailers are banking on to drive sales over the long weekend.

We’ve identified five of the standout trends from retailers’ Easter 2024 ranges below:

1. Hot cross buns can be sweet or savoury

In an effort to make hot cross buns trendy for 2024, retailers have unveiled an array of off-beat variants. Savoury options include Co-op’s Irresistible Hot Hot Hot Cross Buns (£1.60/four), made with dried jalapeños and chilli peppers, bird’s eye chilli powder and sweet chilli sauce; and Morrisons’ The Best Extra Mature Cheddar & Red Leicester (£1.25/four) buns.

Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s have favoured sweet innovation, with Extremely Caramely Hot Cross Buns (£2/four) and Taste the Difference Sticky Toffee Hot Cross Buns (£1.50/four) on shelves at the respective retailers. 

 

Read more:

• Easter chocolate prices soar up to 50% in the supermarkets

• Hot cross bun taste tests and UPF dupes dominate TikTok

• Eggs, cookies and hot cross bun cheddar: what’s new for Easter 2024?

 

2. Plus, they’re crossing over into new categories

Ever wondered what a hot-cross-bun-panettone-hybrid looks like? Look no further than Waitrose’s Hot Cross Bunetonne (£8/500g), an Italian cake made with butter, sultanas and candied orange peel. It comes with a sachet of icing sugar and a stencil for shoppers to decorate it at home.

Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, has taken the flavours of a hot cross bun into its Taste the Difference Free From Tarts (£3.25/190g) and Hot Cross Chicken (£10/850g), a truly unique piece of NPD featuring British chicken breast filled with a pork and orange stuffing, topped with a mixed spice glaze and finished with an all-butter puff pastry cross.

 

3. Honeycomb chocolate is having a moment

Honeycomb Easter eggs are all the rage this year, with Aldi, Co-op, Asda and Sainsbury’s all bringing out their own versions. Aldi’s rippled milk chocolate egg (£4.99/200g) is studded with honeycomb and pretzel pieces. Co-op’s Good Egg (£7/180g) is a blend of Fairtrade dark and blonde chocolate, with honeycomb and a hint of salt. Sainsbury’s’ milk chocolate Taste the Difference egg (£8/230g) features roasted corn and crunchy honeycomb inclusions. Finally, Asda’s Extra Special Extra Thick Egg milk chocolate egg contains crunchy honeycomb and pretzel pieces.  

Read more:

• Mega-egg trend dominates Easter NPD launches

• Clarence Court launches limited-edition traditional breed egg box

• Hot Crossy Bs and #NoFarmersNoFood: this week in grocery on social media

 

4. The orange chocolate trend isn’t over yet

The trend’s longeveity is evidenced Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Asda all launching orange chocolate Easter eggs for 2024. Aldi’s is a milk chocolate, marble-patterned egg (£6.99/240g), while the Sainsbury’s one is made of 55% dark Belgian chocolate, and features Italian candied orange pieces and crunchy sugar pearls (£8/230g). Asda has launched two chocolate orange eggs; one is a hand-decorated orange and ginger flavoured dark chocolate hollow egg with cocoa nibs and candied orange peel (£8/280g), the other is its OMV! vegan egg, made of a rice-based alternative to milk chocolate, with crispy caramel flakes.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons have all launched variations on chocolate-orange hot cross buns. Asda’s mini ones (£1.40/nine) feature dark chocolate chunks, fat-reduced cocoa powder, candied orange peel and orange marmalade, while Sainsbury’s’ Free From Hot Cross Buns (£2.50/280g) contain dark chocolate chips, citrus peel and clementine oil. Morrisons has dialled up the indulgence factor with its Double Chocolate & Orange Hot Cross Buns (£1.25/four), featuring dark and milk chocolate. 

 

5. Popcorn has gone seasonal

Popcorn has made a surprise appearance in retailers’ Easter confectionery lines. Marks & Spencer’s Scrummy Bunny Munch (£9/460g) features white chocolate & raspberry popcorn, mixed in with selection of jelly fried eggs, carrots & bunnies, milk chocolate pretzels, sugar coated crispies and milk chocolate malt balls. Aldi, meanwhile, has unveiled a duo of Poppin’ Choc tablets (£2.49/100g), both featuring popcorn among other inclusions.