Unwrapping the rise of luxury advent calendars
It started as a fun DIY project. Back in 2014, PR worker Annem Hobson noticed there were plenty of chocolate advent calendars but none for cheese lovers like her. So she made her own version out of cardboard and supermarket cheese and wrote about it on her food blog. To her surprise, the post quickly went viral and was picked up by international media.
“It just seemed to really capture people’s imagination,” Hobson says with a laugh. “Advent calendars have always had an emotional pull… plus, people just really love cheese.”
Realising she was on to something, she spent the next Christmas making a website, whipping up customer interest and contacting suppliers. After linking up with cheese manufacturer Ilchester, the calendar, which contains 24 individually wrapped cheeses, became a huge success, selling more than 1.3 million to date and spawning a host of copycats.
Little slices of luxury
Hobson’s calendar, it turned out, was riding the crest of a wave of popularity for advent calendars aimed at adults. Step into any department store in late November and you will find dozens of glittering calendars to suit many tastes or whims. Boots stocks 56 varieties, Harrods 17 – ranging from £20 for a version with coffee capsules up to £470 for Dior’s luxe gold-and-navy iteration.
Boring old chocolate is all but banished. There are gin calendars, lipstick calendars, nut butter calendars. Calendars filled with hand cream, Lego, dog treats, scented candles, jam, bath bombs, CBD, sex toys, Star Wars socks, marshmallows, beard oils, rum, sriracha sauce, herbal teas, face masks, and even miniature vinyl records to play on a miniature gramophone.
Many of these do not come cheap. Liberty’s 12 Days of Jewellery calendar, festooned in peacock feather print, costs £845. Swarovski’s is £630, while Fortnum and Mason’s spirits and liqueurs version is a relative steal at £250. Even a luxury chocolate calendar will…
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