Nearly half of all pie sales occur in the last three months of the year, demonstrating the significant connection between pies and special occasions during the fall and winter.

To promote that pies are part of every celebration throughout the year, bakery manufacturers like Rise Baking Company are partnering with retailers through merchandising suggestions and recommendations to highlight these events.

“While these holidays drive demand, we have also observed a significant demand in pies for various events throughout the year, including New Year’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day where consumers look to pies to celebrate,” said Michael Docherty, senior vice president of marketing, strategy and project management office, Rise. “Whether it’s offering seasonal fruit varieties for spring or innovative twists on classic flavors, we ensure that our pie offerings meet this demand.”

Circana research shows that special occasions occur 18 times per year and are identified by events that include multiple guests, dinner occasions, food sourced from restaurants and are held on weekends. Not all of these are major holidays but rather other social or personal gatherings.

Targeting these occasions is vital to growing the pie category.

“Pies actually over-index for products that consumers are more likely to buy during these occasions,” observed Melissa Altobelli, senior vice president, client insights, dairy and bakery vertical, Circana.

She recommended “me-too” merchandising and urging consumers to grab dessert along with the rolls, for example, while shopping for dinner in the perimeter of the grocery store. Bakers need to encourage consumers to create a restaurant-like experience at home that provides restaurant quality without the high prices of eating out.

Kelsey Olsen, food and drink analyst at Mintel, noted that consumers are seeking out comfort, indulgence, and convenience throughout the year and not just during the holiday seasons.

“Desserts manufacturers have an opportunity to highlight how products can check all of these boxes — even on smaller scale special occasions,” she explained. “We are seeing seasonal creativity and launches outside of the core holidays, too, which is where dessert manufacturers can find further inspiration for supporting comparably smaller celebratory occasions. Utilizing seasonal flavors and ingredients can also craft special occasions on a more year-round basis ¬— and not just the classic flavors like pumpkin in the fall or peppermint in the winter. Breaking into more spring and summer occasions can be done with the help of seasonal produce or flavors that celebrate the warmer months.”

To target these occasions, Rocky Mountain Pies offers a red, white and blue pie packed in an American flag-style box for the Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day holidays. The pie features equal sections of red cherry, white apple and blue-hued mixed berries under a hand-tied lattice pastry crust. However, much of its merchandising is custom designed.

“We listen to our customers and create products that are meaningful in their marketing areas around important special occasions,” said Mark “Par” Grandinetti, president of the bakery. “That type of approach is contagious when our buyer drives the new products into their stores with the same excitement they had when they created the product.”

In the broader dessert category, Eli’s Cheesecake’s prepackaged Chi-Town Collection features 24 different 7- and 8-inch cheesecakes.

“The retailer can select flavors and fit them to themes that meet the needs of their customer year-round for special occasions,” noted Sarah Zupancic, director of marketing for Eli’s Cheesecake, Chicago.

For the latest holiday season, Eli’s introduced Eggnog Cheesecake with an eggnog-infused batter topped with creamy mousse and a dusting of nutmeg, baked on the company’s signature all-butter shortbread cookie crust.

Zupancic said other holiday flavors include Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake, Cranberry Orange Cheesecake and a Seasonal Sampler with Cinnamon Roll, Hot Chocolate, Cranberry Crumble and Original Plain Cheesecakes.

This article is an excerpt from the December 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Pies, click here.