New research from wraps and spices specialist Santa Maria reveals the UK & Ireland’s most popular wrap fillings, cuisines and flavour combinations. Combining this with market intelligence on emerging flavours, bundling ideas and promotional dates, Wrapfusion: Wrap Flavour Combinations & more, gives retailers recommendations to help them boost sales of wraps and complementary products on the back of this trend.
British and Irish wrap fans were grilled on all their wrap rationale and traditional mealtimes, through to their favourite fillings, spice and flavour combinations. Findings showed that wraps are now a go-to for people of all ages – with almost a third eating them at least once a week[1] – potentially because they’re an economical option, which can be easily switched up for different cuisines.
But with a dizzying array of flavours and fillings on offer, Santa Maria’s research showed that consumers are still looking for inspiration: 17% of UK and 22% of ROI diners prefer ‘make-away’ meal boxes for preparing their wraps. And according to Cardylitics[2], spend on do-it-yourself meal boxes and grocery boxes more than doubled in 2020, making this a valuable trend for retailers to get a steal on.
Offering a host of options for retailers because of their adaptability, Santa Maria recommends retailers boost sales through shelf displays with wraps featuring complementary products during foodie dates like Taco Tuesday, Meat Free Mondays and National Barbecue Week.
With staycations becoming increasingly likely, retailers can transport consumers to exotic locations with meal boxes featuring their top ten cuisines, such as:
- Mexican (46%);
- Italian (19%);
- Turkish (18%);
- Greek (18%).
And with Fajita and BBQ taking top spots in the flavour ranks, wraps remain a hot contender for barbecue promotions, giving diners an economic, tasty vehicle for any meat, fish or plant-based dish that has gone on the grill.
To inspire retailers, and get customers’ tastebuds tingling, Santa Maria’s report comprises recipes that reflect the most popular cuisines and diets: Cajun Chicken Wraps, Pulled Oats® Burritos, Salmon Fajita Wraps and more.
Hannah Hurling, Marketing Activation Manager UK & IRE, Paulig Foods says: “The public’s enjoyment of wraps plus the current boom in grocery and meal boxes means there are plenty of opportunities for retailers to whet customers’ appetites with appealing shelf displays and product bundles.
“This research reinforces the sheer versatility of wraps. Not just used for world cuisines, it’s interesting to hear they’re regularly subbed in traditional British fare, with 26% of wrap eaters loving them in English dishes: food for thought when it comes to the breakfast occasion!
“With options to satisfy a wide variety palates and budgets, we’ve pulled together the most on-trend ideas to help retailers make the most of this up-and-coming product category.”
To download the full Wrapfusion: Wrap Flavour Combinations & more report, click here.
[1] Onepoll UK 1,000 & ROI 500 wrap survey, March 2021.
[2] https://gff.co.uk/meal-kits-grocery-boxes-surge-in-popularity-amid-lockdown/