The Power of Pumpkin

Fall has just begun, but pumpkin has already been spicing up menus and bringing in customers across the U.S. 

According to There’s Somethin’ About Pumpkin, from by foot traffic analytics firm Placer.ai, Dunkin’ and Starbucks both experienced boosts when they debuted fall-menu items this year. The report found that in 2019, 2021, and 2022, visits to the chains spiked in correlation with the releases. And foot traffic increased with each subsequent comparison, indicating that fall menus grew in popularity from year to year.

Visits to Starbucks were up 25.7 percent this year during the seven-days after the chain launched its fall menu, compared to the average weekly visit numbers for the previous five weeks. During that same stretch, visits were up 7.5 percent compared to 2019’s numbers, too.

Over at Dunkin’ visits increased 9.5 percent this year during the seven-day stretch after its fall menu launched, compared to the average weekly numbers for the prior five weeks. And visits were up 5.8 percent during that same period compared to 2019.

From August 30 – September 13, SpotOn saw 1,000+ ‘pumpkin’ items added to client menus. About 40 percent of the items are pumpkin-flavored beers, and 10 percent are pumpkin spice. SpotOn also found 50 new items labeled “Fall,” including fall pizza, fall muffins, fall gnocchi, etc.

In a 2019 study by OnePoll and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a resounding 80 percent of Americans said they are on the pumpkin spice bandwagon with 68 percent of respondents saying they crave the fall flavor before the season even starts.