In a year marked by the lack of premieres in cinemas around the world, the most requested characters for this Easter will once again be the usual ones. Tables will once again be filled with "monas" featuring characters from Frozen, Harry Potter, Paw Patrol, and Star Wars, and sports stars like Leo Messi.
Despite this scarcity of new faces in the "monas", the Barcelona Pastry Guild predicts that this year's Easter will be notably better than last year's, which was marked by the state of alarm. Pastry chefs are confident of reaching close to 700,000 units sold, about 5% less than in 2019, thus recovering the numbers from 2020.
"Despite the efforts, COVID left many godchildren without a 'mona' last year. This year, normality is still not total, but we are already seeing that there is a great desire to maintain the tradition and once again enjoy artisan 'monas' and the creativity of pastry chefs," comments the president of the Guild, pastry chef Elies Miró.
Aware of the current restrictions due to the pandemic, with limitations on social gatherings, pastry chefs are preparing slightly smaller formats than usual. As has happened in other recent holidays, the forecast is that customers will opt for smaller units.
Last year, when Easter was celebrated in full home confinement, many pastry shops reduced their assortment of "monas" or opted to invite customers to celebrate the Second Easter. Sales fell by around 40% and online sales were the main channel, an option that a good part of establishments are maintaining for this year.