Chris Lewis has been trying to time the market on candy prices.
The 36-year-old father of two in Florida has been biding his time, waiting for discounts and buy-one-get-one deals — but lower prices never came.
“It’s just more bulk candy that we’re buying, so we’re getting bigger bags so that we can get a better deal versus the smaller ones,” Lewis said.
This year, families have added a candy-buying strategy to their Halloween challenges, in addition to trying to snag “KPop Demon Hunters” costumes. Bureau of Labor Statistics data up to September showed that prices for candy and gum have skyrocketed thanks to tariffs and climate events, increasing much faster than overall prices. Still, like overall inflation, the candy price spike doesn’t seem to be deterring shoppers too much.
Lewis, for example, is snagging whatever treats he can get.
“We’ve also got pretzels; we’re throwing in kind of whatever we can find,” he said. “Whatever the deal is is what we’re grabbing at this point.”
Candy prices are rising, but Americans are still planning to indulge
Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation, using data from NielsenIQ, found that Hershey variety packs rose 22%, Hershey Peanut Butter Cup packs rose 8%, and Tootsie Roll lollipops rose about 34% between fall 2024 and 2025.
Tariffs and weather are culprits.
“Whether it’s cane sugar, whether it’s cocoa, all of that has to get imported, and all of that’s being affected by the tariffs,” Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst, told CBS News. Lempert also said cocoa production has fallen in West Africa because of droughts and windstorms.
A National Retail Federation survey of over 8,000 consumers, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics in September, found that most were planning to buy candy and decorations. This could be a record year for Halloween spending, reaching $13.1 billion, and candy spending is expected to be $3.9 billion.
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
We’ve been seeing this story economy-wide. The US consumer has still been spending despite persistently elevated inflation. Consumer spending rose 0.6% in August.
For a first-timer like 25-year-old Kaleigh Merriweather, the price of Halloween candy was jarring when she went shopping this year.
Typically, her parents are the ones who buy candy, but she has her own place to consider now, she told Business Insider.
“The increase definitely influenced the amount I want to spend,” Merriweather said. “I thought I’d be spending $30 at maximum, but it’s closer to $50 for two large variety bags.”
It didn’t deter her from spending the money, however. Merriweather said she did pay attention to how certain candy was priced. She bought less chocolate than she expected, and was “disappointed” to miss out on her favorite part of the candy bowl.
Merriweather said that paying more for Halloween candy is still a must. It’s for the kids, she said. Her only hope is that they enjoy their gummies as much as they would a Kit Kat.
“You have to pass out at least some candy. It’s not the kids’ fault that it’s more expensive,” Merriweather told Business Insider.
For at least one family in North Dakota, the larger economic picture is changing Halloween this year. Chris Eschbach, a 42-year-old father of two, is planning to forgo candy. His family is thinking about those hit by the pause in food benefits due to the government shutdown.
“My wife had mentioned to me with the SNAP benefits ending and people being hungry and the economy being bad, what if we just hand out food?” Eschbach said. They’re thinking of handing out things like ramen, granola bars, and Hamburger Helper.
“I would much rather — not to take the fun away from the kids — but much rather do that knowing someone might get food that may go hungry than to just do some wasteful spending,” Eschbach said.
