News

Food gifting on the rise

18 Aug 2016

Givers are increasingly choosing to send the gift of food, according to market research published by Packaged Facts in the new report Food Gifting in the U.S., 5th Edition.

Givers are increasingly choosing to send the gift of food, according to market research published by Packaged Facts in the new report Food Gifting in the U.S., 5th Edition.

Since 2010, consumers have continued to expand their usage of food gifting across occasions and food gift types, the company notes. Food gifts are given not just on major holidays such as Christmas or Easter or on special occasions such as graduation or birthdays, but are also being sent "just because" or in celebration of typically less beloved "Hallmark holidays". Moreover, Packaged Facts' data suggest that average spend per food gift and the number of intended food gifting recipients is on the rise - all good news for food gifting market participants.

Packaged Facts forecasts U.S. consumer and corporate food gifting sales will approach $18 billion in 2016, up 3.5% from 2015. Of this amount, the majority is attributed to consumer sales, which Packaged Facts expects to rise 2.5% in 2016.

Meanwhile, corporate sales are expected to rise 4%. Corporate food gifting presently enjoys noticeable momentum as it is buoyed by positive employment trends and corporate gifting giving and gift spend trends. Corporate food sales are also benefitting from companies creating gift baskets designed specifically to appeal to those in the business world. For example, it notes, GourmetGiftBaskets.com offers an entire life of gift baskets suited for Administrative Professionals Day to help convey appreciation for office employees.

By a wide margin, boxed chocolates/candies remain the most prevalently chosen food gift that people purchase for others, with some 28% of food gifters purchasing boxed chocolates/candies for someone else in the past 12 months. Other relatively widely purchased food gifts include sweet baked gift foods, coffee/tea/hot chocolate gifts and nut/salty snack gift foods.

Packaged Facts found that, by occasion, among adults age 18+, the winter holidays are a food gifting mainstay. Almost half of those who have purchased food gifts for others have done so for the winter holidays, while 32% of those who have purchased food gifts for themselves have done so for these holidays. Birthdays and Valentine's Day are also very popular food gifting occasions, according to the report.