Coles defends early Easter launch: Supermarket responds to hot cross bun backlash with cheeky sign

Coles has defended their early Easter hot cross bun launch, with a cheeky sign targeted at supermarket shoppers.

Coles North Sydney has put up a sign on their lavish display of hot cross buns, which reads: "Been around since Boxing Day and not even cross about it."

Coles and Woolworths began selling hot cross buns on Boxing Day, with Aldi not far behind, much to the shock of some Aussie shoppers.

Despite initial complaints, Coles and Woolworths have reported healthy sales of hot cross buns in their first week.

Coles and Woolworths reportedly sold up to two million hot cross buns each between Boxing Day and New Year's Day and are expected to sell 70 million units of hot cross buns nationally across their entire Easter sales season.

Gavin Northey, Consumer Psychologist at Griffith University, told nine.com.au hot cross buns "are probably one of the most popular items in the bakery, so clearly people think they are awesome all year round".

And turns out many Aussie shoppers agree with this sentiment.

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"I buy them in anger so they can bring them home and eat them while talking about how ridiculous it is that they're on the shelves," one Redditor commented.

"Australian's love affair with being aghast at the sale of hot cross buns post Xmas is only beat by our passion for buying hot cross buns as soon as Christmas is done," another wrote.

"The only thing we should be angry about is these things not being available all year round," commented one hot cross fan.

Aldi has also launched their hot cross buns range, but has stopped short of stocking chocolate Easter eggs, which Coles and Woolworths started rolling out in early January.

Bakers Delight started baking their baking hot cross buns on January 6 and will "build up to National Hot Cross Bun Day on March 13 and then into Easter itself".

Easter falls on April 5, 2026, another nine weeks away.

Northey said "intense competition in global retail" explains why Easter and other seasonal items are placed on sale as early as possible each year.

"Retailers want to capture consumer dollars before they get allocated for some other purpose," he said.

"Seasonal products also have a limited viable selling period, and Easter eggs possibly have a much higher 'per gram' margin that typical block chocolate.

"As a result, if supermarkets can start selling Easter eggs earlier, the sales volume can be maximised, generating greater net revenue."

This leaves some Aussie shoppers feeling "annoyed" because "consumers might see the early promotion and feel like retailers are pushing consumption on them before they're actually ready".

"Humans typically hate being told what to do, particularly in a retail environment."

Then there's the fact that the early appearance of season items serves to "collapse the between major yearly events".

This can make it feel as though time is going by too fast. Our children aren't even back at school yet, and we have to think about Easter already, which it is meant to fall much later in the year.

It can also take away from the ritual of Easter, which is what helps makes it so special.

"Ritualistic consumption around holidays and special events is placed under threat," Northey said.

"Prior research in marketing has called this 'sacred consumption'. If consumers feel a 'sacred' event is being prematurely or heavily commercialised, it upsets them."

The early appearance of Easter products can also create a form of "temporal compression".

"When these seasonal markers appear so early, it creates a degree of cognitive dissonance, so consumers lose the association between the season or event and the products being offered," he added.

"In fact, friends of mine have noticed the Easter eggs in supermarkets and one said they felt like Easter was kicking off before they'd gotten over Christmas," he added.

I still think hot cross buns should be sold all year round, but Easter eggs should be delayed until March.

As one Redditor put it: "Reminder, if no one buys them at this time of year, they won't stock them at this time of year.

"If you're buying them, you're a part of the problem."

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