MONTREAL — Dessert Advisor, a recently launched online platform connecting foodies with specific dessert items located near them, publishes the top 10 popular desserts in Canada in 2020. Concerned with all things sweet or baked, Dessert Advisor highlights the important role desserts play in the economy and in comforting people in times of stress.
Since early March, most dessert search categories (source: Google) have demonstrated a dramatic volume growth between 100% to 250%, relative to the normal search pattern. For example, a “Banana Bread” search in Canada that usually has a solid and consistent search volume throughout the year, experienced an increase of about 170% over the regular demand. The “Chocolate chip cookies” keyphrase showed a spike of 212.5% over the regular demand. To emphasize how unusual this spike was, Dessert Advisor reviewed the search pattern over the past 15 years. While chocolate chip cookies have the tendency to demonstrate high demand during the December time frame, a 100% search volume growth was recorded at the onset of COVID-19, relative to the December peak, and it is definitely the highest marked growth in the last 15 years.
Foodies had limited access to places such as bakeries and chocolate stores during the lockdown. Instead, consumers focused on stockpiling their pantries for baking. “It seems that 1 out of 20 businesses had to close,” says Gil Gruber, founder of Dessert Advisor. “With so many businesses having to shut their doors permanently, we felt it was our duty, now more than ever, to connect people with local bakeries and other retailers that are lucky enough to stay open.”
In June, search rates returned to previous levels, but after this “new normal”, foodies will likely demand improved options. The increased “stay at home” or “work from home” habits intensified the need for online purchase and food delivery. It also created a new mixed category where people first search online for their product of choice only to collect the items in store themselves. Thus, in just a few months, curbside pickup increased more than 500%. This solution is obviously good for large retailers, but what about the small business retail industry?
The Dessert Advisor website maintains a list of over 5,500 retailers across Canada. It is unique in that it offers dessert retailers a complimentary listing of their products, enabling them increased online visibility of the dessert items themselves, not just shop locations. With just one click of a mouse, foodies are now able to look for their specific product of choice and find a local retailer that can satisfy their immediate needs. This ability to bridge the gap between hungry consumers and challenged dessert businesses is one way this site is helping to ease some of the COVID-19 related stress.
Dessert Advisor invites foodies to search for their favourite dessert based on their dietary requirements, add reviews, and support their local dessert retailer. Dessert retailers are asked to check if their businesses are listed on the site and confirm whether their products are featured under their listing. Further to this, retailers are encouraged to upload any of their missing dessert products in order to gain higher exposure.
About Dessert Advisor
Dessert Advisor is a community that bridges the gap between foodies and dessert/baked goods/chocolate/ice cream/snack retailers. With thousands of retailers listed on the platform, individuals can search for a specific dessert item and review it after they have tasted it. The Dessert Advisor platform enables dessert retailers to reach new clients that would otherwise not be aware of their offerings.
