New York
CNN
—
Nothing says fall like a pumpkin spice latte. And in the last decade, that sentiment now includes baking pumpkin spice muffins, pouring pumpkin spice booze, lighting a pumpkin spice candle, throwing pumpkin spice dog treats, and yes, even bringing out pumpkin spice bags and using pumpkin spice napkins.
Some find pumpkin spice—and his earlier and earlier performances — downright unpleasant, risks flattening the trend. Others feel that the flavor, whose fans are often female, is unfairly targeted as “basic”. Regardless, its polarizing position on American taste buds confirms its place as an emblem of the Fall.
Caitlin Covingtonwhose autumnal aesthetic of autumn leaves, chunky knits and tousled tresses earned her a loving internet meme “Christian girl autumn” he said it takes her back to her childhood.
“I just think there’s something so comforting about those smells and flavors,” Covington said. She said the taste reminds her of doing homework at the kitchen table while her mom lit a pumpkin spice candle and baked cookies.
Simply put, pumpkin spice reminds us of warm, fuzzy feelings. And consumers are willing to pay for a sense of nostalgia, even though it’s still 90 degrees outside. Americans spend more than $500 million annually on pumpkin spice productsaccording to Nielsen data.
Nothing is more American than pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, said Northwestern marketing professor Jacqueline Babb.
“There’s something about the smell of cinnamon and sugar that brings us back to that cozy fall feeling,” she explained. “By evoking those feelings of coziness and family, you elevate your brand from a hot drink or a garbage bag to something that means something to people.”
Pumpkin spice doesn’t really taste like homemade seasonal squash. Instead, it’s a sprawling blend of cinnamon, brown sugar, ginger, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg (although Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte or PSL contains pumpkin puree).
There is a deep and rich metaphor culturally associated with pumpkin that benefits from pumpkin spice by association alone. It evokes abundance, harvest, jack o’lanterns and the story of Thanksgiving – something that Americans of all cultural backgrounds come into contact with in some way.
Several pumpkin spice Facebook pages have over 50,000 members and are active year-round. People, mostly women, find a community online that posts all things fall throughout the year, their pumpkin-decorated mantels, the latest pumpkin spice store finds, and fall-themed graphics.
Covington has earned the title of queen of fall with her cozy pumpkin-themed posts (she’s traveling from her home state of North Carolina to Maine and Vermont this year for her anticipated fall trip).
You can thank you Starbucks for the pumpkin spice in our lives.
Pumpkin spice wasn’t a big deal in the early 2000s, Peter Dukes, then head of the Starbucks Espresso product team that brought the PSL to life, told CNN in 2023.
In 2002, the chain launched a holiday mint juice that resonated with customers. Starbucks later began compiling a list of fall beverages to introduce—although caramel and chocolate beverages were popular with customers, pumpkin achieved a higher level of uniqueness.
After much debate, the company decided to test the pumpkin pie flavored latte at 100 locations in Washington, DC and Vancouver. The following year, it expanded to North America.
“Starbucks was really smart to see that this was established. And they probably asked themselves, how can we create a product that fits all the imagery, romance and positive affinity to the season and flavor profile? said Mark Lang, associate professor of marketing at the University of Tampa.
Many future fans got their first taste of pumpkin spice at the coffee shop chain. Covington said she had her first PSL at her first job as a working adult in 2014 when she needed coffee to get going in the morning.
“That’s when I found out Starbucks had a pumpkin spice latte, and I really fell in love with it,” Covington said.
Pumpkin spice is so successfully integrated into American culture because of human nature, Lang said. People are looking for variety and stimulation, and pumpkin spice was the perfect combination of novelty and familiarity.
Customers also flock to its limited availability and seasonality. It reflects the old days and the excitement when you could finally buy certain fruits in the supermarket, like peaches in August.
“That signaled the start of the season, which is what we like as humans this cycle,” Lang said. “These seasonal things are tied to agricultural patterns, and our society was built around agriculture.”
Pumpkin spice season could also be a lifeline for Starbucks, which has had a rocky year filled with and Change of CEO and declining sales – about 10% of the chain’s total sales come from seasonal staples. The chain brought PSL back earlier than ever this year.
“It’s still one of our best drinks,” Thomas Prather, vice president of marketing at Starbucks, told CNN in 2023. “As a marketer, it amazes me every year.”
Brands have taken advantage of the multi-sensory marketing of pumpkin spice – you can taste the spice, smell the candles and evoke all those old feelings.
Another good reason to invest in pumpkin spice – it kicks off the holiday season the most lucrative time of the year for sales across many industries. But there’s a risk that by introducing fall earlier and earlier each year, marketers are overextending what makes pumpkin spice special. Sales of pumpkin products are down slightly compared to 2023, according to NIQ data reported in USA Today.
“You try to make it an everyday flavor, and I don’t think it works,” Lang said.
But for the biggest fans of pumpkin spice, fall is more of a lifestyle than a season.
“I welcome it, even though it’s very hot outside,” Covington said. “I’m just imagining a cool fall day in my mind. I have my cozy book and coffee.”
Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this story.