THE influence of American popular culture has helped Halloween grow into one of the most popular home-baking occasions behind Christmas and Easter, reckons Dr Oetker.
It identifies food colours as a key home-baking sub-category during the period.
Executive head of marketing Jan McKee said: “Our Gel Food colours saw a 98% uplift year on year over Halloween last year, with red performing particularly well alongside seasonal colours, black and orange.”
Sales of icing were up 20% and figures for icing used for on-cake writing jumped 84% . McKee suggested that those trends emphasised the importance of retailers stocking a seasonal range that allows bakers to be creative. Modelling 3D decorations are popular with bakers, she said, and Halloween provides opportunities for bake fans to create gruesome body parts, spiders and other items from marzipan and icing.
