UK Food and Drink Gifting Market Report 2025
Food and drink gift buying has proved resilient to the income squeeze. In fact, reported buying of food and drink to gift has climbed to 81% since 2022.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Opportunities for food and drink gifting
- Opportunities for more customised gift packs containing just favourite flavours
- Personalisation offers a way to make food/drink gifts more special
- Potential for retailers to stand out by showcasing local brands
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Outlook for food and drink gifting
- Real wage growth continues, many consumers are still catching up
- Graph 1: CPI inflation rate and total pay growth rate, 2021-25
- Food/drink is widely seen as an affordable gift
- Graph 2: food/drink is a good choice for an affordable gift, % agreeing, by financial situation, 2025
- Price rises for food have come down, but prices substantially higher than 2022
- Graph 3: consumer price inflation for food, non-alcoholic beverages and alcoholic beverages, 2022-25
- Increase in number of young adults and over-65s, but less children
- What consumers want and why
- Eight in 10 buy food and drink as gifts
- Graph 4: food and drink bought as a gift, by type, 2022 and 2025
- Friends and partners biggest food/drink gift recipients
- Graph 5: who food and drink is bought for as a gift, 2025
- Favoured brand is the biggest influence on food/drink to gift
- Graph 6: factors influencing choice when buying food/drink as a gift, 2025
- Online visibility and offering customisation will help boost gift sales
- Graph 7: behaviours related to food and drink gifting, 2025
- More guidance and ideas from retailers wanted for food/drink gifting
- Graph 8: attitudes towards food and drink gifting, 2025
- Innovation and marketing
- Seasonal launches play a big role in gifting, with chocolate the biggest element of seasonal
- Seasonal food/drink gifts extend beyond Christmas and Easter
- More variety of foods in gift packs
- Drinks with glasses/mugs continue to feature in gift sets
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market drivers
- Real wage growth continues, many consumers are still catching up
- Graph 9: CPI inflation rate and total pay growth rate, 2021-25
- One in four see their finances as ‘healthy’
- Graph 10: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-25
- Food/drink is widely seen as an affordable gift
- Graph 11: food/drink is a good choice for an affordable gift, % agreeing, by financial situation, 2025
- Price rises for food have come down, but prices substantially higher than 2022
- Graph 12: consumer price inflation for food, non-alcoholic beverages and alcoholic beverages, 2022-25
- Population growth to buoy demand for food/drink gifts
- Graph 13: population, by age, 2020, 2025 and 2030
- Increase in number of young adults and over-65s, but less children
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Food and drink items bought as a gift
- Eight in 10 buy food and drink as gifts
- Graph 14: food and drink bought as a gift, by type, 2022 and 2025
- Under-35s are most likely to buy food and drink as a gift
- Graph 15: food and drink bought as a gift, by type, by age, 2025
- Types of food and drink bought as a gift
- Chocolate is by far the most popular food gift
- Graph 16: food bought as a gift, 2025
- Spirits and wine are the most popular alcoholic drinks for gifting
- Graph 17: alcoholic drinks bought as a gift, 2025
- Soft drinks are being bought more as a gift
- Graph 18: non-alcoholic drinks bought as a gift, 2025
- Who food and drink is bought for as a gift
- Friends and partners biggest food/drink gift recipients
- Graph 19: who food and drink is bought for as a gift, 2025
- Younger people more likely to gift food/drink to their partner
- Graph 20: who food and drink is bought for as a gift, by age, 2025
- Showing gratitude is a big reason for gifting food and drink
- Three in four food/drink buyers take food/drink when visiting someone
- Make your gift a talking point of the social gathering
- Factors influencing choice when buying food/drink as a gift
- Being a favoured brand is the biggest influence on food/drink to gift
- Graph 21: factors influencing choice when buying food/drink as a gift, 2025
- Price is not a major consideration for most food/drink gift buyers
- Low price only influences a third of food/drink gift buyers
- Food and drink will continue to benefit from being an affordable gift choice
- Attractive packaging makes a difference, particularly for sweet treats
- Offering samplings will help prompt buying of products with unique flavours
- Premium ingredients and quality awards each make food/drink more gift-worthy for three in 10
- Behaviours related to food and drink gifting
- Enhancing online visibility and combining food/drink in curated packaging can help boost gift sales
- Graph 22: behaviours related to food and drink gifting, 2025
- Social media having a big impact in food and drink, including on gift choices
- Collaborations with social media influencers can boost sales, but come with some risks
- Graph 23: behaviours related to social media influencers collaborating with food/drin brands, 2024
- Food/drink with a ‘wow’ factor can benefit from social media coverage
- Product reviews online have a big influence on choice of food/drink to gift
- Customised and personalised gifts have wide appeal
- Strong demand for customised food/drink selections to gift…
- …including build-your-own hampers/gift selections
- Personalisation adds extra appeal to customised gifts…
- …with these already having a presence in wine and cakes
- Personalised subscriptions are attractive
- Graph 24: personalised subscriptions for a monthly delivery of food/drink (eg chocolates, wine) make a good gift, % agreeing, by age, 2025
- Food/drink pairings offer more affordable gift potential
- Attitudes towards food and drink gifting
- More guidance and ideas from retailers wanted for food/drink gifting
- Graph 25: attitudes towards food and drink gifting, 2025
- Half have difficulty knowing food/drink preferences
- A social media presence is crucial for brands seeking to guide gifting choices
- Graph 26: social media platforms used in the last three months, by age group, 2024
- Suggestions on food/drink gifts for a set budget have strong appeal
- Offer more suggestions on food/drink gifts for a set budget
- Offer tools for guiding choice based on recipient preferences
- Gifts with a local or charity element appeal widely
- Potential for retailers to showcase local brands
- Offer local gift bundles, tasting events and local producer stories
- Develop charity partnerships for food/drink gifts
- Alcohol brands also linking up with charities
- Put emphasis on “gifting that gives back” messaging
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- Launch activity and innovation
- Seasonal launches play a big role in gifting, with chocolate the biggest element of seasonal
- Graph 27: food launches with seasonal claims, by category, 2020-24
- Premium and indulgence continue to be a big focus for Easter 2025
- Brands continue to focus on reducing plastic for Easter gift packaging
- Growing choice of advent calendars
- Food/drink gifts are also being launched for other seasonal occasions
- Christmas drinks gift sets look to appeal with attractive packaging
- Drinks with glasses/mugs continue to be a feature of gift sets
- More variety of foods in gift packs
- Food service brands extend offer in retail gift packs
- Gifts catering for those interested in home baking
- Gin gift sets offer unique flavours
- Novelty packaging has a small presence in alcoholic drinks
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APPENDIX
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Consumer research methodology
UK Food and Drink Gifting Market Analysis
Food and drink gift buying has proved resilient to the income squeeze. In fact, reported buying of food and drink to gift has climbed to 81% since 2022. This is due to the majority of consumers seeing these as a good choice for an affordable gift, and only a third seeing low price as a top priority when gift buying.
UK Consumer Food and Drink Gifting Trends
Gratitude is a powerful theme for food and drink brands to focus on in the context of gifting. Almost three-quarters of food/drink gift givers bought these as a thank you. Directly delivered gift selections hold potential, as six in ten of ‘thank you’ gift buyers had bought selections/hampers, and over half had gifts delivered to the recipient.
Attractive packaging remains a key feature in unlocking gifting sales in food/drink. Over a third of food/drink gift buyers are influenced by this. Attractive packaging is more important to those describing their financial situation as struggling. This highlights that ensuring that products look gift-worthy is particularly relevant while real incomes remain under pressure.
About This Report
This report looks at consumer behaviours and attitudes towards food and drink products bought as gifts. The report covers sweet and savoury foods, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Topics Analysed in the Report
- Types of food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks bought as gifts.
- Who food and drink is bought for as a gift, and buying as a thank you or when visiting someone.
- Factors most important when buying food/drink as a gift, including brand, attractive packaging, unique flavour and low price.
- Behaviours related to food/drink gifting, including using online reviews and social media, and interest in customisation and a wider range of premium food/drink products in gift packaging.
- Attitudes towards food and drink gifting, including interest in more ideas from retailers on food/drink gifts for a set price, personalisation and local products.
- Key trends in recent launch activity and product development opportunities.
Meet the Expert Behind the Analysis
This report was written by Richard Caines. Richard is a Senior Food & Drink Analyst at Mintel, responsible for researching and writing a wide range of UK food and drink reports, as well as writing Analyst Insights discussing key launches, marketing activity and trends. Richard has more than 25 years of experience in market research, including a number of different analyst roles at Mintel.
Food and drink benefits from being an affordable gift choice. Customisation, personalisation and a wider range of premium food/drink gift packs are opportunities.
Richard Caines
Principal Analyst, UK Food & Drink Research
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