November 2002 - Nr. 11
Tricks and Treats Make Halloween Big Business in Germany
TWIG - Halloween, an ancient Celtic tradition celebrated most widely in Anglo-American countries, has been gaining popularity steadily over the past decade in Germany, too. As DW WORLD reports, Germans’ new-found fondness for carved pumpkins and costume parties on October 31 - and all the goodies that go with them - have brought big business to German toy, candy and costume companies. Annual Halloween revenues have averaged 100 million euros (US$98 million), a figure expected to increase in coming years.
Toy makers profit most, says Dieter Tschorn of the Association of the German Toy Industry, which takes credit for being the first to bring Halloween to the German public, back in 1994. "Whether [acknowledged through] presents, toys, alcohol or sweets - no one ignores Halloween today," Tschorn says. In the slow run-up to Christmas, toy makers are not the only ones grinning like jack-o’-lanterns at the profits. Shops selling decorative items enjoy brisk business in the cardboard and plastic witches, ghosts and goblins so common in the U.S. at this time of year. Lots of little "Lord of the Rings" wizards and "Harry Potters" will be joining the more traditionally costumed kids on October 31 this year, the toy association says.
For confectioners, too, Halloween has become an established event. Although the door-to-door trick-or-treating tradition has not yet caught on in Germany, by early October shops throughout the country are stocked with chocolate eyeballs and dracula-shaped fruit gums. "We have taken on the Halloween trend", says Marco Alfter, spokesperson for German sweets giant Haribo. Haribo’s current product selection includes packets of spider- and skull-shaped sweets with names like "Happy Hariween," "Horrormix" and "Vampire." Alfter says, "Halloween is, after Christmas and Easter, the third main product season. Sales are going very well, and we have already sold a lot long before October 31."
Other businesses have also realized the profit potential in the ghoulish holiday. German revelers now have a Halloween portal with links to information on everything they need to know about creating invitations, mixing weird drinks and freaking out friends. Companies that focus largely on producing items for Karneval (carnival), Germany’s Mardis Gras equivalent, are also turning to Halloween for business opportunities. The world’s largest producer of Karneval costumes and accessories, the Rubies Group, based in central Germany, earns some 40 million euros (US$39.2 million) each year with Halloween items, around 5% of annual sales. According to Theo Welbhoff of the Rubies Group, Halloween business is brisk this year, and could be increased with ease. He thinks 3% to 5% growth is realistic and that one day Halloween celebrations could even surpass those of Karneval, bringing double-digit earnings in the future.
