PARTY ON!

Julie Gallagher

There's nothing scary about Halloween deli and bakery sales this year.

In fact, the holiday has delivered above-average returns to retailers with Halloween merchandise. In addition to traditional favorites like decorated cupcakes and cookies, retailers kicked off the fourth-quarter holidays with more sophisticated prepared items that can be sold through the fall and winter holidays. Pumpkin soup and apple-cinnamon muffins are among the more original offerings.

"Our Halloween sales have been very good, better than last year's," said Pete Hejny, senior director, central kitchen for 11-store Bristol Farms, the Carson, Calif.-based division of Albertsons.

In fact, this year's holiday could produce a sales lift ranging from 25% and 30%, Hejny said. "It's shaping up to be a great Halloween."

Surging sales of Halloween fare may be tied to entertaining. More than 25% of consumers will throw or attend a Halloween party this year, and the average person will spend just over $18 on sweets, according to the National Retail Federation's 2005 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, Worthington, Ohio.

Furthermore, the timing of the holiday should benefit the food industry. One retailer noted the popularity of spooky celebrations is due in part to the fact that Halloween falls on a Monday this year.

"It lands on a good day, so there will be a solid weekend of adult parties, and then trick-or-treating will be the kids' night out," said Brett Lein, director of bakery for Cub Foods West, the Stillwater, Minn.-based division of Cub Foods. "Overall, it makes it easier to advertise [Halloween items] on one advertisement. We won't have to extend their promotion out to another advertisement."

A chain of 65 stores, Cub Foods West had the appetites of classroom party-goers in mind when it began offering 24-count packages of freshly baked devil's food and vanilla cupcakes decorated with orange and black icing. A variety of plastic Halloween-themed picks, bearing the images of jack-o-lanterns, a skull and crossbones and spooky messages like "Boo," are stuck in about half the cupcakes.

"[The cupcakes] are specifically sold for Halloween parties at school," said Lein of Cub Foods West's top Halloween-themed bakery seller. "We price them below Wal-Mart's [cupcakes]. They're the best deal in town."

The cupcakes, regularly selling for $12.98, retail for $9.99 on sale. To boost profits, Lein said, the bakeries keep plastic decorations on the cupcakes to a minimum.

Cookies cut out in Halloween shapes and decorated with icing and sprinkles, and butter cookies adorned with colorful granulated sugar, are also popular with children, he said.

Cookies are packaged in autumn-themed doughnut boxes. For grown-ups, pumpkin pies are a big seller.

"Last year, in early September we began offering pumpkin pies, and we ran the warehouse out of them," said Lein. "The pumpkin and apple spice flavors have done well for us."

Cub Foods West offers apple- and pumpkin-flavored coffee cake, pie and strudel bites, as well as pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. Its apple-flavored offerings coincide with Minnesota's Applefest, said Lein. The retailer displays apple- and pumpkin-flavored bakery items on tables near store entrances and in other high-profile areas. Cub's coffee cake, pies and strudel bites all sell for $2.99 each, he said.

Decorations in Cub Foods West's bakery section reflect the harvest theme. "We use fall-colored fabric to 'autumnize' the bakery section," Lein said. "This way it'll roll right into Thanksgiving."

At Bristol Farms in Southern California, the top-selling Halloween-themed deli items reflect the tastes of a more sophisticated crowd.

"Pumpkin soup, butternut squash ravioli and pumpkin-stuffed ravioli are big sellers for [Halloween] parties," said Rich Ferranda, deli director, Bristol Farms. "We also see a big increase in cheese sales."

The retailer's baked Brie en Croute, available stamped with a pumpkin shape, is one of its best sellers, as is cheddar cheese. Ferranda thinks customers purchase the latter for homemade deli platters.

Bristol Farms' pumpkin soup sells for $3.59 a pint and $6.99 a quart. Sixteen-ounce containers of Bristol Farms' butternut squash ravioli and pumpkin-stuffed ravioli sell for $7.99, while a 16-ounce package of Brie en Croute retails for $12.99. The 32-ounce size is available for $24.99.

Although Bristol Farms doesn't cross-promote deli offerings with baked goods, the bakeries are a destination during the Halloween season. Associates decorate the bakeries with corn husks and raffia. Cupcakes are top sellers, followed by cookies.

"Cupcakes are Halloween-themed, and we do a lot of character piping of witches, ghosts with white icing and Frankenstein with green and black icing," Hejny said. "Some are decorated with plastic picks. We can also do special orders."

Character-piped cupcakes are sold individually for $2.39, while plain cupcakes, with no Halloween characters, retail for $1.39 each, or in quantities of six for $6.99.

Cookies, cut out in Halloween shapes, some decorated with icing, are offered on Halloween-decorated platters that weigh one-and-a-half pounds for $24.99. The bakery also carries pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls, pumpkin-shaped bread and pumpkin-flavored cakes, muffins and cheesecakes.

Come Halloween, bakery associates at Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix stores play it safe. Rather than creating ghosts and goblins, associates choose pumpkin shapes for decorating Halloween treats.

"Publix typically decorates our cakes in pumpkin-themed decorations so as not to offend or scare our customers," said Maria Brous, spokeswoman for Publix. "Some families and religious affiliations do not celebrate or partake in the traditions of the holiday. Witches, ghosts and goblins may scare children as well."

Publix can customize the decoration of cookies, cupcakes, cakes and doughnuts based on special requests, as long as they don't infringe on copyright laws. Cupcakes are best sellers, followed by cookies and doughnuts.

"Halloween allows us the opportunity to showcase the skills and talents of our bakery decorators," she said. "We predict this year's Halloween sales will be as good or better than that of previous years."

The retailer's cupcakes, available in chocolate and vanilla, are sold individually for 57 cents, in quantities of six for $3.39 or 12 for $5.99. The retailer also offers sugar cookies and shortbread cookies. Its 26-ounce Halloween cookie platter, featuring treats in the shapes of bats and pumpkins, sells for $7.89. The retailer also carries palm-sized cookies, decorated with icing, sprinkles and plastic trinkets, in the shapes of spiders, ghosts and witches for $1.29 each, or two for $2.49.

Some Publix stores have party planning centers to assist customers with holiday entertaining needs. "It helps out with everything from platters and cakes to flowers and decorations," said Brous of the in-store center. "Our Web site offers a similar service. Each department also has brochures with all the available festive occasion options."

Publix's deli offers small, medium and large party platters, with deli meats, cheeses, salads, vegetables, fruits, chicken wings and sandwiches. Its popular combination platter is made up of thinly sliced roast beef, ham, Genoa salami and choice of cheese. The small combination platter with Publix's meats and cheeses serves eight to 12 people and costs $29, while a large platter featuring Boar's Head meats and cheeses serves 26 to 30 and retails for $69.