Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
With ‘The Great British Bake Off’ in full swing, the nation continues to go bonkers for baking, with Hobbycraft reporting a 51% increase in cookie cutter sales since the last episode.
In the second episode of the hit BBC1 series, its contestants created and decorated gingerbread showstoppers. The craft retailer noted a corresponding trend that baking enthusiasts were giving decorating a go at home, with sales of piping tools up 30% and icing tubes and pens up 29%.
And when the series moved on to biscuits, Hobbycraft customers were keen to practice their cake-making skills with the company’s newly launched gravity cake tin seeing an increase of 37% in sales compared with the previous week.
The chain has also seen a 1,125% increase in sales of layer cake sets and a 1,000% increase in cake pillars. Cake stands have enjoyed an increase too of 33%.
Jenny Watson, creative kitchen buyer at Hobbycraft, commented: ‘‘‘The Great British Bake Off’ has been – and continues to be – a phenomenon. What’s great about Bake Off, and one of the reasons we love the show, is that it inspires bakers of all abilities to don their aprons.
“Non-bakers are tempted and encouraged to give it a go, and home bakers are keen to get more creative. So having the decorating and colourful products such as colour pastes, paint pens, paint brushes and edible glitter stocked up is important for us and for our customers.”
Hobbycraft customer development director Katherine Paterson, added: “As baking fans ourselves, we love ‘The Great British Bake Off’ at Hobbycraft and can already see that our customers love it too, with sales increasing across the category.
“The really interesting thing for us about programmes such as Bake Off and BBC2’s ‘The Great British Sewing Bee’ is that they inspire people to get making: whether it’s people giving it a go for the first time, or experts showing off their skills. And that, for us, is what it is all about. We can’t wait for the next episode already.”
Hobbycraft is hosting a baking competition for customers to showcase their bakes on social media channels and the Hobbycraft blog. The prize is a Wilton Ultimate Decorating Set worth £130, a Wilton decorating course worth over £600, a food mixer and a baking bundle.
The business stocks arts and crafts supplies for sewing, baking, jewellery making and more, available from 85 stores nationwide and online.
