Consumer Appetite for Fall Specials Hits Season High

Consumer appetite for fall specials is at a seasonal high, with 61% of consumers interested in limited-edition items at retail or restaurants this autumn, more than any other season, according to Datassential’s Fall Trends report.

More than half of consumers associate the fall season with special restaurant flavors, dishes, beverages, and LTOs, and operators appear to be moving to meet that demand. Some fall flavors are already hitting menus in August.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf gave loyalty members early access to its pumpkin classics, including the Pumpkin Iced Latte with Cream Cap, ahead of a new Iced Pumpkin Hojicha Latte arriving Aug. 19. Starbucks is also launching its fall menu featuring an Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso and Pumpkin Spice Chai.

Meanwhile, Culver’s added a limited-time item to its Pub Burger lineup. The Fried Pickle Pub Burger comes topped with crispy fried pickles and cheddar on a pretzel bun — pretzel being the fourth most fall-skewed savory flavor, behind butternut squash, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

“It’s never too early to start thinking about seasonal strategies, especially when it comes to fall flavors,” the report said.

Traditional winter flavors are creeping in too with candy cane and gingerbread now ranking among the top-indexing fall flavors — a sign of just how crowded November has become. It is also where fall’s biggest holiday sits: Thanksgiving remains the occasion consumers most associate with restaurant specials or LTOs, at 69%.

Butternut squash bridges traditional and modern fall menus. It topped Datassential’s list of savory flavors that over-index in fall, and it travels across menu categories: Panera Bread offered an Autumn Squash Soup and P.F. Chang’s ran Butternut Squash Dumplings in miso butter sauce while True Food Kitchen offered a Butternut Squash Pizza with lemon almond ricotta, caramelized onion, kale, and raisins.