As the world welcomed Lunar New Year at the end of last month, we look at how the symbolism and fantastic flavour translates through to food and drink in our latest seasonwatching report.
This Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, was celebrated from 22nd January to 2nd February 2023, culminating on 5th February with the Lantern Festival as the year 2023 marks the year of the rabbit. Many of us are going rabbit mad - from simply shaped chocolates to intricate bao buns, globally, there is so much engagement. Restaurants are going all out with elaborate decor and afternoon teas are a plenty. Even simpler ways such as doughnuts decorated with rabbits or an elevated tiramisu still brings a touch of celebration to the classics.
We take a closer look at some of the key themes trending this year in our seasonwatching report, from which we've highlighted three key takeouts below to give you a feel for the report.
1. Celebrate – Whether it's a walking the streets with festival lanterns in hand, dining out, or simply enjoying an Oolong tea and pineapple flavoured ice cream, with pineapple said to be lucky during New Year, engagement is high with this celebration.
2. Year of the Rabbit – As we hop into the new year the rabbit has so much symbolism - symbolic with peace and prosperity, so much of food and drink takes on the cuteness of the rabbit. From luxury cupcakes with rabbit decorations to rabbit eared ice creams, even the beauty sphere is going all out with packaging too.
3. Prosperity – Not only symbolic with the year of the rabbit, there is a huge thread of prosperity throughout so much of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Traditional Lo Hei salads are said to deliver greater prosperity the higher the salad is tossed giving deeper meaning to the occasion as well as deliciousness
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