Halloween Candy to Cost More and Be in Shorter Supply this Year

For those stocking up on candy to hand out this Halloween, they may notice that their favorites are more expensive and potentially harder to find. Tim Kraft, Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University, says just like everything else, inflation has hit the candy business as well.

And its not just inflation impacting the candy industry. Kraft adds that sugar shortages in other countries and the war on Ukraine is disrupting supply chains.

The pandemic also led to an increase in demand for candy over the past two years as people turned to chocolate and other goodies for stress relief, and Kraft says because of that they focus their production away from the snack size varieties.

According to the National Retail Federation, people are estimated to spend more than $3 billion on Halloween candy this year.

The 10 most popular candy brands, plus assortment bags, have seen an average price increase of 13% since 2021— with some sweets jumping more than 30%, according to the Datasembly Grocery Price Index.

The highest price increases were Skittles at 42% and Starburst at 35%. Other candies with high price hikes included M&M’s, with an increase of 14%, and Reese’s, with an increase of 13%, Datasembly found.