\nArticle content<\/h2>\n A growing number of Canadian consumers seem to agree. Brenda Carter, in Cobourg, Ont., puts it in her coffee. Her daughter tipped her to it a few years ago \u2014 her daughter even left a carton in Carter\u2019s fridge over Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like drinking pumpkin spice coffee, but you\u2019ve made it yourself at home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Expanding eggnog sales into autumn, and perhaps even beyond, makes a lot of sense for retailers and producers, since it\u2019s the sort of product that can create sales without taking any away.<\/p>\n As soon as eggnog is available, customers are buying it, said retailers.<\/span> Photo by Postmedia<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOne grocer referred to it as an \u201cunplanned purchase\u201d in the sense that customers will put it in their cart, even though it wasn\u2019t on their list, but they won\u2019t sacrifice their other purchases.<\/p>\n
The strategy seems to be working. Eggnog sales around Thanksgiving this year boosted the entire dairy category by two per cent at Mike Dean Local Grocer, a chain of five stores in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n \u201cThe dairy companies have made it into a Thanksgiving drink,\u201d said Gordon Dean, the owner of the stores. \u201cTwo per cent to a normal person doesn\u2019t seem like a big number. But a sales lift of two per cent in a category to a grocer, that\u2019s moving mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean, who started selling eggnog outside the traditional December holiday period about three years ago, said customers are also willing to spend more on eggnog than they would on regular milk. That\u2019s because eggnog, similar to Pepsi or Clamato, is also a mix for liquor drinks, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the opposite of chocolate milk. You buy chocolate milk because you want to guzzle it. You buy eggnog because you\u2019ve got somebody coming over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
And customers who have somebody coming over tend to splurge.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that I get to make a little margin on \u2014 far more margin on eggnog than I could make on milk,\u201d Dean said. \u201cAfter the success here, why would they not try it for some other season?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lactalis Canada Inc., the multinational dairy processing giant that makes eggnog under its Beatrice brand name, is forecasting eggnog sales to grow by five per cent this year compared to last, for a total of around two to 2.5 million litres.<\/p>\n
All those sales will occur in the final quarter of the year, with 15 per cent in October, 10 per cent in November and the remaining 75 per cent in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe start of the season is getting earlier and earlier,\u201d said Vincent Metz, general manager of Lactalis\u2019 fluid division in Canada.<\/p>\n
Still, he isn\u2019t expecting to be able to stretch eggnog sales into summer.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n \u201cFrom a sensory point of view, I\u2019m not sure this is a product you would enjoy so much during the warm months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n Turkey industry hoping their birds fly off the shelves again this holiday season <\/span> <\/h3>\n<\/li>\n \u2018Something\u2019s got to give\u2019: Restaurants slash hours, trim menus as worst worker shortage ever cuts deep <\/span> <\/h3>\n<\/li>\n \u2018You\u2019re sitting on your own fuel source\u2019: How the harvest from hell and carbon tax is pushing farmers to greener fuel <\/span> <\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n <\/section>\nIt was not warm this week in Toronto, but it wasn\u2019t that cold either. Stanley Mandarich was shopping at the west-end Toronto supermarket and his wife pointed to the eggnog in the fridge. He took a carton of the classic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess I don\u2019t see why not,\u201d he said of the purchase. \u201cI was perfectly fine thinking that October was a good month to have eggnog in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next day, he had some with brandy. It felt friendly, and familiar, maybe a little decadent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might not have it every day,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how long it\u2019s good for but I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll use it up before it expires.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Email: jedmiston@nationalpost.com | Twitter: