2025 Valentine’s Day Trends: Beyond Roses

In the face of the challenges posed by the rising cost of living, consumers are increasingly looking for ways to elevate at-home and low-key Valentine’s Day celebrations.  

For 2025, key themes shaping Valentine’s Day trends include breaking away from tradition and redefining luxury. As a result, humble produce takes centre stage in romantic gestures and thoughtful gifting opportunities. For brands, this presents an opportunity to reimagine product offerings, focusing on the everyday moments of love and joy, while tapping into the growing trend of elevated home dining experiences.

2025 Valentine’s E-commerce and Retail Trends: Tracking ‘A Basic Affair’ 

Here we show a short extract from the full Valentine’s Day 2025 Trend Tracker report exploring the adoption of TrendBible’s Future of Celebrations 2025 trend, A Basic Affair. Register for a free My TrendBible subscription to access the full report and explore how this trend has influenced Valentine’s Day gifting in 2025.

This trend redefines luxury for 2025, centring on intimate, nourishing celebrations where the art of hosting shines. Playful, cuisine-inspired prints – featuring butter sticks, twirling pasta, and nods to restaurant linens – add charm, while a casual yet elevated dining aesthetic transforms simple pleasures into memorable moments at home.

What we said:

A celebration of seasonal produce sees vegetables take centre stage. Living arrangements comprising of leeks, asparagus or tomatoes range from simplistic and sculptural to artfully woven. Serving a dual purpose, deconstructed displays may be gifted to guests to cook and enjoy. 

‘Grow to eat’, becomes ‘grow to display’ as seasonal sunny, golden blooms are interspersed with long stems of ripening tomatoes or chillies. Tumbling from centrepieces and cascading from bouquets, these create striking and aromatic gifting opportunities for foodie friends and family members.

What we saw:

Seasonal produce influences are reshaping traditional Valentine’s gifting, moving beyond roses and chocolates. Worm London’s “Radicchio, Not Roses” campaign exemplifies this shift, using radicchio leaves in floral displays to promote seasonality and challenge tradition.  

Food-themed puns are increasingly focusing on vegetables, signaling a shift away from traditional sweet food icons like strawberries and cherries. For 2025, tomatoes, olives, and pickles emerge as key motifs across gift and seasonal greeting ranges. A variety of brands are embracing this trend, with phrases including “I love you from my head to-ma-toes” and “Olive you so much” featuring heavily.

We explore the growing influence of radicchio, along with seasonal and place-based eating, in our Future of Celebration 2026 trend, Fruitful Lands, including how fresh produce is influencing motif and gifting opportunities for 2026 and beyond. 

Are you rethinking your 2026 retail occasions? 

If you’re looking ahead to next year, our  2026 Future of Celebration forecast explores how everyday moments are influencing messaging and gifting for Valentine’s Day and other key seasonal occasions.  

Our Future of Celebration forecasts will help you plan and execute campaigns and product ranges that will resonate with your future consumers’ needs and expectations. Get actionable direction on trends covering all every day and seasonal celebrations.