- The Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend, a celebration to mark the Queen's reign, is fast approaching.
- Many companies have launched Jubilee-themed lines, including quirky food and drink products.
- Retail businesses anticipate an increase in customer spending and a boost in sales.
To mark the 70th year of Queen Elizabeth II on the throne, Heinz rebranded its Salad Cream to Heinz Salad Queen and HP playfully changed its HP Sauce to HM Sauce.
Anke von Hanstein, senior brand manager at Kraft Heinz, said: "HP sauce and Heinz Salad Cream have been on the dining tables of Brits throughout all the Queen's reign, bringing delicious and distinctive flavors to our favorite meals."
She added: "We hope our customers enjoy these celebratory designs and that they add a squeeze of fun to the Jubilee celebrations, however one is celebrating."
Kraft Heinz said it is looking at transforming its marketing to be a bit more disruptive and much more creative so that it moves at the speed of culture and looks at what is happening on the outside.
Marks & Spencer gave Colin the Caterpillar a fun makeover, including a crown and Jubilee cape, to help customers celebrate the occasion on June 2.
M&S is launching a limited-edition Corgi meets Jubilee Connie the Caterpillar cakes for £10 ($12.65) at its M&S Food Halls from June 1.
An Economist at the British Retail Consortium, Harvir Dhillon, said fresh food, sales of alcohol and particularly items adorned with the Union-Jack are expected to perform well.
"The upcoming Platinum Jubilee should favor retailers with improvements to footfall over the extended Bank Holiday period, as people stock up for celebrations with friends and family," he said.
High-end department store Selfridges launched a Jubilee Hamper for £80, which includes Union-Jack design shortbread and salted caramel crowns.
Selfridges said its sales of Jubilee-related products are growing week-on-week, with sales of its Selfridges Selection Jubilee Hamper this week up more than 350% on last week.
Alan Thomas, UK CEO at Simply Business, one of the UK's largest providers of small business insurance, said: "The Queen's Jubilee bank holiday should provide a much-needed boost to small businesses across the hospitality, retail, and leisure sectors. Holiday trading periods are crucial to these businesses, accounting for a significant portion of their annual revenue."
It added: "With six million UK SMEs, together accounting for 99% of all UK businesses, small businesses sit at the heart of our communities and are vital to our economy. After a challenging couple of years, we hope to see an extra economic boost over the weekend as people head to towns and cities to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee."
The Beeswax Wraps Co designed Platinum Jubilee-themed food wrapping. It's made from beeswax and created exclusively for The Royal Collection.
Its wraps are being sold at royal establishments as an official partner throughout the Royal Jubilee, including Buckingham Palace.
"As a small British company, we are honored to be chosen to work with the Royal Collection on their first beeswax wrap collection to mark this National occasion," founder of The Beeswax Wrap Company, Fran Beer, said.
"The Royal Collection partnership is a huge moment for the company and we hope the wraps will play a part in showing more people around the UK that they can make simple and beautiful new choices for everyday products," Beer added.
Independent business Baked By Steph developed a collection of royal-themed cookies, which include corgis, crowns and of course, the Queen herself.
Founder Steph Giordano said they have been selling well since April and sales have increased rapidly in the run-up to the Jubilee weekend.
Baked In created an Afternoon Tea Baking Hamper created with the Platinum Jubilee specifically in mind, and said its home baking kits are performing well both as a product and a brand builder.
Baked In provides home baking kits and subscription boxes with new recipes and baking kits delivered to your door. Baked In's founder Joseph Munns said: "Like other small businesses, we're being creative and focused about how we leverage the Platinum Jubilee to boost sales across our product range. It's definitely given us another calendar date to innovate around."
Munns added: "From what I'm hearing, small businesses are being realistic about an expected sales lift and the next few days will be critical as we gain momentum, heading into the long Bank Holiday weekend.
Beanies Flavour co-created a limited-edition Jubilee Cake flavoured instant coffee to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.
Beanies said it created the limited-edition Jubilee version of its Birthday Cake flavor coffee in recognition of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. It also wanted to commemorate the fact that it recently won a Queen's Award for International Trade.
"Just like the rest of our range, it is not only full of flavour but also low calorie and sugar-free so that we can all celebrate this historic occasion without piling on the pounds," Beanies Flavour Co's Mark Stangroom said.