The Easter Treat Report: What Users Want vs. What Brands Push
With Easter, we celebrate the arrival of spring and new beginnings, one thing’s for sure: sweet treats took centre stage.
So, what’s buzzing this Easter season?
Let’s dive into the social conversation and see how consumers discussed Easter eggs & chocolate and how branded social media content was perceived by the public. Using Synthesio’s social listening dashboard, we tracked social mentions across Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, blogs, and forums across Europe over a period of 3 months (Feb to April), where we looked at:
This Easter’s Biggest Social Trends
We identified and monitored trends from Signals GenAI, our market-leading AI solution, to uncover market research quality insights in seconds. It found that Art & DIY leads overall consumer conversations, with creativity and customisation resonating this Easter, with people posting about their home baking experiences and taking on challenges to recreate childhood favourites or put their twist on traditional treats (check out my recreation of an Easter egg cake!).
Premiumisation comes in second for consumers, reinforcing chocolate’s strong tie to indulgence and elevated experiences. One standout is the recurring love for filled easter eggs, which continue to be a user favourite. Brands have heavily targeted the premiumisation trend with ornamental, extra-thick, and high-quality eggs offering a level up for customers seeking something more.
Interestingly, people often link personalisation with being premium, especially in the context of gifting. This opens a clear opportunity for brands to lean into customisable offerings. Brands could offer name-printed eggs, DIY chocolate or pick-and-mix tins tailored to individual tastes to target this trend moving forward.
Brands promoted their Eggs as premium by highlighting aesthetics and ingredients, but little do they know, consumers were drawn to playful and interactive easter eggs as they want to create memorable moments with family. Brands should consider this next year by promoting DIY kits to boost appeal
Flavour Watch: What’s Rising on Social for Consumers This Season
To get insights on trending flavours, we ran a micro trends study using our tool Signals GenAI, which analyses social data to uncover niche and emerging trends. It’s designed to separate fleeting noise from real momentum, helping us spot what’s trending this season versus what’s building long-term cultural weight. Here's what the flavour landscape looks like when you zoom into the Easter season.
When we compared brand content versus consumer content, we found that brands were fairly aligned with consumer enthusiasm for pistachio, which dominates in volume, with an average 2.2% growth rate among users (Feb 1st to April 23rd). This growth was driven by the viral Dubai Chocolate trend, which took over feeds, from user reviews and videos of people queuing up at supermarkets to DIY takes on the trend all over TikTok. Overall, pistachio is not just a flavour, but a cultural moment. However, there was a notable over-index on brand content on pistachio, with 45% of branded easter egg content mentioning this ingredient. Among consumers, pistachio drove 3x the volume compared to emerging flavours like lavender and basil and was mentioned in almost a quarter of all consumer conversations. This reflects the maturity this ingredient has now achieved in the market.
Lemon follows – once considered an unconventional Easter flavour, it's now gaining traction as consumers are recreating seasonal treats at home and adding their own lighter, fresher flavours. This rise reflects a broader trend: Easter is becoming more hands-on and personalised. Consumers are moving beyond pre-made eggs, embracing DIY baking and customisation. While brands have capitalised on the pistachio boom, there’s a clear opening: an Easter egg that comes with a baking kit, complete with personalised flavour infusions like Lemon or Lime. It’s interactive, shareable, and speaks directly to how consumers want to celebrate the festive season.
Coconut & Raspberry are then the next most popular in volume, walking the fine line between classic and exotic in consumers’ minds. This reflects a desire to explore beyond the classics, appealing to foodies and trendsetters through tropical and fruity pairings. Brands can include Coconut or Raspberry for a bold twist, especially when paired with brands that bring either a sense of nostalgia or a more gourmet feel.
What does this all mean for brands? It’s simple: listen closely. Brands are meeting consumer needs in their preference for flavours, but they are craving creativity, comfort, and connection. While traditional flavours still hold ground, the real buzz is around viral flavours on social media (TikTok) that are making an impact on shelves, combined with nostalgic nods, and customisable experiences. This Easter, the winners weren’t just the sweetest, they were the most thoughtful, the most shareable, and the most personal.
So what did you end up making for Easter?
Join the conversation by sharing your recreations with us or leaving your thoughts in the comments below.
Analysed and written by Sanjna Ghosh & William Beech (Synthesio UK)
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