Waitrose food lovers are Italianmaxxing Easter

Waitrose Food & Drink

30 Mar 2026

Searches on Waitrose.com for ‘colomba cake’ and ‘panettone’ have soared 265% and 30% in the last month
Appetite for Italian innovation is skyrocketing - sales of Hot Cross Bunnetone, No.1 Pistachio Tiramisu, and Colomba Cake are up 120%, 111% and 85% compared to this time last year
Social media is fuelling the trend with restaurants serving Italian flavoured and fusion dishes such as gianduja pastries and matcha tiramisu

Easter eating is getting an Italian makeover this year - with Waitrose reporting soaring sales of Italian flavours redefining spring menus, and customers baskets.

Will Torrent, Senior Development Chef at Waitrose, says: “Our food lovers are looking for a more sophisticated, sun-drenched update to the traditional bank holiday, and Italian bakes like the Colomba Cake are the perfect centerpiece, offering light and elegant puddings. It’s a move toward ‘aesthetic entertaining’ - these cakes aren’t just delicious; they are a conversation starter.”

“They’re delicious dipped into a hot espresso or served as an ice cream sandwich with our No.1 Colombian Coffee Ice Cream.”

Compared to this time last year sales are up for the following:

In the last month, searches on Waitrose.com have risen for the following:

“Gianduja” +20%
“Panettone” +30%
“Colomba Cake” +256%
“Tiramisu” +17%

Sarah Breadmore, Waitrose Easter Egg Product Developer, says: “When we were developing our Easter range, we predicted the continued growth that Italian cuisine has had on food innovation and looked to incorporate trending flavours such as gianduja, and pistachio into our Easter eggs.”

Cafés and restaurants such as Pophams and Jolene in London are incorporating gianduja and pistachio into their seasonal pastries, and Lannan in Edinburgh, has taken to using flavours such as coffee and mascarpone in their viennoiseries. While Guisseppe’s Kitchen, which has recently opened in BoxHall, London, is serving fusion tiramisu desserts as well as showcasing Italian nonna-styled meals.

This trend is moving from restaurants to homes, with influencers Italianmaxxing Easter with seasonal recipes. Content creators like @_lacebakes_ recently shared a viral Mini Egg Focaccia which merges Easter flavours with Italian cooking. Moreover, @amal.wakim created a tiramisu out of hot cross buns, bringing another level of fusion to Easter eating.

It’s not just foodies who are Italianmaxxing this Easter - as John Lewis is also seeing home decor trends across socials and sales of pasta bowls rise (+11%) beating the humble dinner plate.

John Lewis are catering for the rising popularity of an Italian spring with these new launches:

Nicola Hattersley, Tabletop buyer at John Lewis, says: "The warmer seasons are the perfect time to play with more vibrant and fun plates and glasses. If you want to incorporate some 'Nonna-chic,' opt for hand-painted ceramics and lemon or fish motifs that bring a bit of the Italian coast to the table."

Notes to Editors

About Waitrose & Partners
Run by over 45,000 passionate Partners, Waitrose has been serving customers for 120 years and offers extraordinary products in our 320 shops and on Waitrose.com. Inspiring food discovery, our expert Partners run almost 800 specialist food service counters in store, where customers can shop a variety of the best quality meat, fresh fish, dry aged beef, sushi, as well as cheese. Our Beer, Wine and Spirits team features the largest number of Masters of Wine of any UK supermarket and we sell nearly 3,000 different wines, beers, ciders, spirits as well as no and low drinks in our shops, on Waitrose.com and Waitrose Cellar. We are committed to selling products which have been responsibly sourced, grown using the very best sustainable farming methods, some of which are grown or trialled on our very own farm, the Leckford Estate. In 2024, Waitrose was granted the Royal Warrant of Appointment to be Grocers and Wine & Spirits Merchant to His Majesty King Charles III.