The first ever Danish Halloween pumpkin sold at Irma in 1996. Since then the holiday has exploded in popularity, spreading to other sectors at a ‘frightening’ pace.
In the space of a few years, Halloween has become a highly lucrative business with supermarkets, garden homes, toy stores and amusement parks all looking to cash in on this multimillion kroner industry writes Metroexpress.
These days, you would be hard-pressed to find a supermarket that doesn’t sell the ornamental vegetable. Such is the demand that Brd Kjeldahl from Samsø, the largest supplier of pumpkins to the Danish market, distributed 300,000 units this year.
“It has exceeded our every expectation!” Søren Peter Kjeldahl, the owner of Brd Kjeldahl, told Metroexpress.
"The only pumpkins left are either too small or have been eaten by birds."
READ MORE: Halloween not for the faint-hearted this year
Tivoli expects ever-improved results
It’s not just pumpkins that are popular with customers. Both Coop and Dansk Supermarked report an ever-increasing demand in Halloween goods.
“We sell a lot of accessories: lights, napkins, tablecloths and masks,” enthused Coop’s director of information, Jens Juul.
Tivoli first opened its doors to Halloween guests in 2006 with 250,000 walking through the ticket barriers. That number increased to 417,000 last year during a two-week opening period. This year Tivoli expects even better results with a three-week opening period that coincides with the Swedish höstlov-holiday, which ends on November 2.
