Pumpkin Spice Arrives on the Heels of Summer

Even before August ended, the smell of fall was in the air.

September 08, 2017

NEW YORK CITY – It’s barely September, but pumpkin-flavored products are already available, the New York Times reports. Fall doesn’t officially begin until September 22, but pumpkin spice in beverages and food items has been turning up since July.

Social media, usually quite passionate about pumpkin flavored anything, has had seen more negative coverage because of the earlier arrival. “If companies can get people to do it for a longer period of time, it can only increase relevance,” Liz Dunn, founder of Talmage Advisors, said. “That’s brand magic right there—unless, of course, it backfires.”

Stores have been carrying Pumpkin Spice Cheerios since mid-August, while Krispy Kreme brought back pumpkin spice donuts and lattes a few days ago. Pumpkin-spice Pepperidge Farm cookies and Werther’s Original candy, among other pumpkin-flavored products, debuted while most of the country enjoyed summer’s heat. Even Starbuck’s iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte will hit stores today.

In Dunkin’ Donuts stores, pumpkin-flavored items returned this week. “We’ve seen our fans ask for pumpkin earlier and earlier each year,” said the company in a statement. “When we’re creating seasonal flavors, timing is key, because we don’t want to be too late, but we don’t want to be too early either.”

“Retailers have gotten themselves into the habit of needing an event to broaden traffic, and they have a void from a storytelling standpoint from back-to-school in early August until Halloween,” said Greg Portell, a lead partner at consulting firm A. T. Kearney about the pumpkin-spice creep into summer.

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