Win this Halloween

Get tips on how to give your customers a frighteningly good time for October’s biggest event.

You might already be adding spooky specials to your menu, running a ghoulishly great event or stocking seasonal products that will make customers scream for Halloween. Now one of autumn’s biggest events, scary season has always been big for retailers, with total UK spending topping £1bn in 2023 (Halloween and Bonfire Report 2023, Mintel).

Venues also enjoy a boost over Halloween week, with on premise drinks sales rising 7% year-on-year in 2023 (CGA by NIQ). Young people and families are the groups most likely to embrace the skele-fun. Last year, customers aged 16 to 24 spent £68.20 on average and 35 to 44 year-olds said they were ready to splash out 27% more (Skipton Building Society).

Whoever you’re hosting this Halloween, here are some fang tastic tips and trends to delight or frighten your customers.

Trick or sweets

Buckets of spooky candies and chocolates aren’t just popular with kids. Adults are also looking to treat themselves and enjoy a touch of nostalgia. So having a selection of bagged sweets available on your bar or offering them at your event is a quick win.

Kelly Dowson, Group Managing Director of F!S Group, highlights one trending sugary treat: “We are seeing lots of freeze-dried sweets popping up and becoming popular. It started as a TikTok trend but now brands are launching in the USA. Incorporating these sweets and their unique texture into desserts or cocktails is a fun way to get ahead of the trend.”

Doughnuts are another seasonal favourite easily turned into spooky faces or pumpkins. Hot chocolates are a go-to drink for 42% of autumn eventgoers (F!S Insights), so create a scary version with marshmallow eyeballs or foam fingers.

Try our recipe for Hot Chocolate made with AERO® here.

Just a bite

More people are unleashing their vampire side and opting for snacks over larger meals. Small bites are a treat for 41% of customers, with twists on standard options being the most appealing. Crisps or crisp-style snacks are the most popular savoury items, particularly with young people. So make sure you offer and highlight these.

To really get their fangs gnashing, create quick-serve signatures of your own. Turn Santa Maria Snack Base Lentil Waves into Creepy Bats by deep frying them at 180C to 200C for 20 seconds until they’ve expanded. Then flavour with Santa Maria BBQ Smokehouse or Vanilla Sugar & Cinnamon seasoning for a delicious, fresh snack.

Cheese screams

When it comes to TikTok treats, ‘girl dinners’ are big. A spinoff from the snacking trend, social media is full of boards laid out with favourite bites, and cheese is always one of the most popular. Speciality, strong-tasting or hot-serve options are on-trend so make up a seasonal sharing board with unusually flavoured fromages, tasty blues and melting bites.

Extras are great for adding flavour and spooky touches. Olives and pickles are back in favour with customers and can easily be turned into creepy body parts. Make bread in the shapes of bats, spiders or pumpkins and add ghostly crackers or pretzels.

Try our recipe for American Sliders with Spicy Nacho Sauce here.

“Customers love looking for and experimenting with new condiments as it allows them to try different flavour profiles in a low-risk way.”

- Kelly Dowson, Group Managing Director of F!S Group

Spook-tacular dips

To add an eerie-sistible touch to your Halloween starters or mains, create a dip with a difference. An easy way to upgrade your menu, people are more likely to try new flavours in sauces. As Kelly explains, “Customers love looking for and experimenting with new condiments as it allows them to try different flavour profiles in a low-risk way.”

For platters, add seasonal flavour by blending roasted pumpkin into hummus, creep up the colour by whizzing together beetroot and yogurt and bring the fire of hell by adding extra chilli to a salsa. Hot sauce, honey and BBQ are trendy options for mixing into side dips.

M-ooooo-vie themes

Last year’s monster movie Barbenheimer made pink sparkles and smoking pipes the main Halloween costume accessories. As Kelly explains, “Looking at this year’s film releases, the second Beetlejuice and Joker movies look the most likely to impact Halloween”. So get your creep on with clown-themed face painting, create your own green, stripy bakes and drinks or use these big screen blockbusters to set your event theme.

Dead delicious

Mexican flavours are a big favourite. So celebrate and create on-trend, delicious dishes with a Day of the Dead theme. More grown-up than ghoulish, embrace your spicy side with a special menu or invite pop-up street food vendors for a one-off event. Add chilli margaritas and creepy Tequila-based cocktails to your signatures.

Dia De Los Muertos parties are full of colour and fun, making it a great alternative for a fun evening or family event.

Try our recipe for Mexican Veggie Burger here.

Bewitching tips

1 Greener 'ween - Many costumes, pumpkins and decorations end up in landfill after the celebrations are over. Avoid running dress-up competitions, use recyclable decorations and put excess pumpkin in special dishes.

2 Ghoulish music - From ‘Thriller’ to ‘Ghost Town’, these tracks get the Halloween party started. Switch up your playlist for the week or, for a bigger event, hire a band or DJ to play these spooky songs.

3 Spine-chilling promos - Happy hour? More like howling hour! Encourage customers to try your specials by putting on offers and marketing them in advance.

4 Magic activities - Halloween doesn’t always have to be scary. For kids and families, put on fun games and crafts like lantern-making, cauldron colouring or pumpkin puzzles.

Creepy thirst-quenchers

Bundaberg Ginger Beer

Three-day farm-grown ginger from Australia suspended in every bottle gives this a warming kick made for cold Halloween nights – on its own, as a mixer or in a cocktail.

Dead Man’s Fingers Strawberry Tequila Cream Liqueur

Tequila is a trending spirit, so mix up your offering with this cream version. It’s a decadent base for an adult shake or to drink as a flavourful shot.

Dead Man’s Fingers Spiced rum

This rum is award-winning for a reason. Full of caramel, vanilla and cinnamon notes, it’s great mixed with cola or ginger ale and as a base for cocktails.

Barr Cherryade

Add a drop of the red stuff to enjoy fiendish fun with this mouthwatering mixer. It will pack a sweet fruity punch as well as matching the creepy colour theme perfectly.

Blood-curdling classics

Recreating well-known cocktails for Halloween is a great way to create signature specials that customers will recognise. Twists on originals can also introduce your regulars to new drinks they might return to later.

For a new take on the Mojito, make it Stormy. Muddle together 4 lime wedges, 4-6 mint leaves, and 15ml sugar syrup. Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved.

Add ice, then pour in 50ml Dead Man’s Fingers Spiced Rum before topping with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel and a sprig of mint.

Pornstar, passionfruit and espresso martinis are favourites, so new versions for Halloween are sure to be top sellers

Make a Scary Strawberry Spooktini by adding 50ml Dead Man’s Fingers Strawberry Tequila Cream Liqueur, 25ml JJ Vanilla Vodka and a scoop of vanilla ice cream into a shaker. Shake well, pour into a coupette glass and garnish with a strawberry.

Save Article