Surprise discovery in supermarket bakery sparks theory sure to please Aussie shoppers
OPINION -- Supermarket bakeries are my happy place. I visit the Woolworths bakery twice a week for bread rolls and their chewy Anzac biscuits, which my son and I prefer to Coles' crunchy version.
They also have a great range of delicious Christmas treats this year – their Cinnabon cake in particular is amazing, but hard to get as it constantly sells out.
And so I was perusing the Woolies bakery section at my local a couple of days ago and I was saw a food item that surprised me.
Woolies has soft launched hot cross buns, in my opinion. Nine
They had their 'Spiced Fruit Loaf' on display alongside croissants and other breakfast treats.
Given how often I haunt the Woolies bakery section, I was genuinely shocked to see a fruit loaf there – I've never encountered it before.
I snatched a loaf up and smelled it. The scent was amazing, and it smells exactly like hot cross buns, which I of course had to look around for.
But it's November. Surely supermarkets wouldn't be as audacious as to release hot cross buns this early in the year?
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They had their Spiced Fruit Loaf on display alongside croissants and other breakfast treats. 9Honey
I know they've previously released them in December, sometimes before Christmas is even done and dusted. But November? And, does this Spiced Fruit Loaf release constitute a hot cross bun soft launch?
I wouldn't put it past them, and to be honest, I'd be pretty happy about it. I am an unashamed hot cross bun eater from as soon as they are released until they are eventually removed from supermarket shelves.
I, like many Australians, wish they were sold all year around and I even freeze several packets to extend the season for me and my son because we are obsessed with them.
But, what if Woolworths released Spiced Fruit Loaf to prime us for the release of hot cross buns?
What if this is a clever move on their part to remind us of how delicious hot cross buns are and to prepare us for their imminent release?
I floated my theory past my favourite consumer expert Gavin Northey, Associate Professor at the Department of Marketing at Griffith University and he didn't agree.
But, what if Woolworths released Spiced Fruit Loaf to prime us for the release of hot cross buns? Nine
I for one would be delighted to eat them year round. Getty
"Now, I'm going to be pedantic here, because you said the fruit loaf was amongst the Christmas goods. I could be wrong, but they look like they are located next to the croissants. That's just two sweet breakfast breads co-existing," he said in response to my prompting.
And that is a very sensible, reasonable, educated response to my outlandish theory.
But my Spidey senses tell me I may be onto something. Only time will tell.
I reached out to Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and IGA to ask when their hot cross buns (or fruit/spiced buns as they sometimes call them) will be released and they were evasive. I also asked Baker's Delight.
Or I felt they were evasive due to my growing conspiracy theory.
One promised they'd have some info regarding their hot cross bun release in "a couple of weeks".
Sounds like a confirmation to me!
Bakers Delight told me they won't start baking hot cross buns until January 6 and will then "build up to National Hot Cross Bun Day on March 13 and then into Easter itself".
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But my Spidey senses tell me I may be onto something. Only time will tell. Getty Images/iStockphoto
I have my theory and I'm sticking too it. Nine
And by the way, why aren't hot cross buns sold all year around? I was raised Catholic, and I'm OK with it. Maybe just call them fruit/spice buns and leave off the cross.
It's the cross that makes them about Jesus and Easter. Supermarkets could just leave off the cross until March and then add it in for March and April, and the rest of the year they are just a delicious breakfast treat we can enjoy without any religious connotations and associated guilt.
Sure, I could eat Spiced Fruit Loaf instead, for the months during which hot cross buns aren't sold. But it's just not the same.
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