Study: One Pumpkin Latte Per Season Is Enough For Most People

Sure, everyone knows someone who starts posting about how fall is their favorite season because pumpkin lattes are back (“squeeeee!”) and they’re going to drink one every day, but for the rest of us, one per season is just fine, thanks.

That bit of pumpkin insight comes from a new study by market research firm NPD Group, via the Chicago Tribune, which said that 72% of consumers purchased a pumpkin latte just once in the fall and winter last year. About 20% indulged twice, and 8% went back for three or more purchases during the season.

Businesses that sell pumpkin lattes shouldn’t worry that not everyone is a repeat pumpkin customer — offering the drinks can bring in new people and create regular customers who could buy other items at the store as well, the study found.

The lattes spur sales as well: during the fall and winter last year, the average check for customers buying pumpkin lattes was $7.81, compared with $6.67 for those who went without.

By now you probably feel like there’s a pumpkin/pumpkin spice-flavored product in just about every category (though sales of actual pumpkins are down), and this study just continues to back that up. The pumpkin bandwagon can be hard to resist.

“We do see more chains trying to drive visits with these special limited-time offers,” Warren Solochek, president of the NPD Group’s food services division told the Chicago Tribune. “It gives chains a chance to talk about themselves. It gives them exposure.”

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist