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IN SEASON – AUTUMN MARKETING A SEASONAL FEAST OF MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES The April and May autumn months may not yield obvious seasonal cuisine ideas, but several occasions outside of Easter can be latched onto. By Illuminera Executive Director Norrelle Goldring. C ertain seasons of the year bring to mind certain styles of cuisine – summer’s salads and seafood and winter’s hearty dishes and red wine, for example. But what of autumn? Unlike the US, where ‘the fall’ invokes pumpkin patches, in Australia the season doesn’t immediately conjure up specific cuisine styles. However, there’s no lack of retail opportunities during this period. April and May have consumer commemorative and cultural occasions that could be tapped into in supermarket retail with occasion-based marketing both in-store and out of store. April Ramadan runs for a month this year from 12 April to 12 May. Muslims may finish the day’s fasts with dates (the dried fruit) because these can help blood glucose levels return to normal quickly. So, dates could be promoted on displays at the front of the fruit and veg section. Songkran, the Thai new year and water festival celebration, runs from 12-14 April. This represents an opportunity to tap into Thai-inspired meals and dishes with meal displays and promotions in the international meals aisle – and perhaps including water pistols and super soakers on off-location displays. Anzac Day on 25 April is an obvious opportunity to promote baking ingredients in the form of biscuit recipes, possibly combined with tea. May Orthodox or Greek Easter falls this year on 2 May. Traditional Greek Easter meals and celebrations involve lamb, pastries such as spanakopita (spinach and cheese pie) and flaouna (cheese and raisin filled pastry). These are an opportunity for meal, or at least dish, ideas in-store and online. Greek Easter also involves dying eggs red, so in store areas with sizeable Greek communities we would expect to see a run on eggs. The Mexican festival Cinco de Mayo, held as the name suggests on 5 May, is "April and May have consumer commemorative and cultural occasions that could be tapped into in supermarket retail with occasion-based marketing both in-store and out of store." a great opportunity for Mexican meals and promotions in the international food aisle involving tacos, corn chips, nachos, tortillas, salsa, and guacamole. All possibly paired with margaritas, tequila and Mexican beers. Sweets may come in the form of a sweet-filled piñata for hitting. Eid is the Muslim festival on 12 May that celebrates the end of Ramadan, and often involves entertaining others with copious amounts of food throughout the day, sometimes served buffet style, as various sets of friends and family visit throughout the day, in a form of progressive dinner or safari supper. Typical dishes involve lamb and chicken roasts served with pilaf or biryani rice, kebabs, and sweets including traditional sweet rice dishes such as zarda, or shemai – a sweet vermicelli pudding. There are also opportunities for local store micro-targeting around specific populations and events. For instance, 16 May is the Jewish festival of Shavuot that may involve consumption of dairy and cheese, an opportunity for stores in areas such as St Ives and Bondi in Sydney and Melbourne’s inner south. So, there are reasons and ways to celebrate autumn in-store without ties to the season per se. About Norrelle Goldring and Illuminera Australia Norrelle Goldring is Executive Director of Illuminera Australia, part of the fast-growing APAC analytics, research, strategy and activation based Illuminera Group of companies that specialises in consumer goods and retail. For more information about Illuminera’s Project Hearth or a copy of the report, contact Norrelle at norrelle. goldring@illuminera.com or call +61 411 735 190. For more information, visit illuminera.com.au. 26 CONVENIENCE WORLD MAR/APR, 2021