How the Bonne Maman Advent Calendar Became a Hot Commodity

Maybe it’s the inspired flavors like pear with cocoa nibs or pineapple and yuzu, the affordability ($45) or the cute little jars that can be repurposed to hold spices or jewelry. But out of the many covetable food-based Advent calendars, those from a 53-year-old jam company are the hottest commodity.

The allure of Bonne Maman’s 25 days of fruit, chocolate and honey spreads in flavors both expected and unexpected have put its jam calendars at the top of Amazon’s most popular Advent calendar list, and moved TikTok creators and lifestyle publications to herald their annual arrival. And it keeps creeping up: In 2023 they became available to order on Aug. 15, and this year on July 18.

“It’s been organic growth, but stepping up fast for sure,” said Sylvain Dronet, the chief executive of Andros North America, which owns Bonne Maman. “If there is really one moment everybody remembers in our company as a turning point, it is the pandemic. It was hard to be together, it was hard to share moments, so this Advent calendar came as a tool to virtually open it together.

Bonne Maman was founded in 1971 by members of the Gervoson family in Biars-sur-Cère, France. Since it debuted 30,000 calendars in the United States in 2017, it has increased production by 400 percent, according to the company. A more affordable 12-day version to meet demand was introduced in 2021.

These jam calendars are the latest in a long European tradition of observing Advent. Starting in the early 19th century, German Lutherans logged the days leading up to Christmas by marking walls or doors with chalk or lighting candles. In the 1920s the German publisher Gerhard Lang — who is often credited with inventing printed Advent calendars — popularized them in Munich, by working with well-known children’s book illustrators to publish playful variations. The calendars eventually made their way to the United States with returning servicemen after World War II.