Halloween candy prices have ballooned 10.8% this year—nearly quadruple the rate of inflation—leaving trick-or-treaters with slimmer pickings and fatter wallets. Blame it on cocoa beans gone rogue, turning the sweetest holiday into a pocketbook horror story.
Candy lovers, brace yourselves: the chocolate apocalypse is here, courtesy of a 178% spike in cocoa futures last year. Producers from Hershey to hole-in-the-wall chocolatiers are whispering “shrinkflation” like it’s a dirty secret, doling out fewer cacao kisses per package while charging you the full smooch.
Take Escazú Chocolates in Raleigh, North Carolina—a bean-to-bar haven that’s now bean-counting like a miserly uncle. Co-owner Tiana Young laments that President Trump’s tariffs have infiltrated everything, from the cocoa pods to the aluminum wrappers, turning their artisanal dream into a tariff tango.
No corner of the candy aisle escapes unscathed. Hershey’s variety packs? Up 22% since last year, because nothing says “happy Halloween” like paying premium for what feels like a whisper of chocolate.
And Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, those peanut-chocolate darlings? They’ve hiked 8%, proving even the most harmonious flavor duos can’t dodge the bean-induced drama. It’s like the peanuts are whispering, “Sorry, buddy, the cocoa’s on strike.”
But fear not, gummy enthusiasts—your chewy saviors are surging. Sour candy sales jumped 7% last year, and now they’re the affordable rebels in this confectionery coup, filling bags with tangy defiance while chocolate sulks in the corner.
Candy giants are peddling cinnamon-toast KitKats to sidestep the cocoa crunch. Who needs traditional chocolate when you can crunch on breakfast-flavored wafers? It’s like swapping ghost stories for cereal tales at the campfire.
Wells Fargo economist David Branch predicts the pain lingers until Valentine’s Day, as factories churn out treats from those overpriced 2024 beans. Meanwhile, energy and packaging costs pile on like uninvited party crashers, ensuring your Snickers bar stays anything but satisfying.
Small-batch makers like Escazú are improvising with pint-sized hot chocolates and non-cocoa ice cream toppers. They’ve even relocated to a cheaper spot in Raleigh, because nothing screams “luxury chocolate” like dodging rent hikes—tariffs or otherwise.
The root of this sugary sorrow? Ghana and Ivory Coast, which supply 60% of the world’s cocoa, battered by climate change’s lousy harvests. Futures prices plummeted 46% this year, but we’re still munching on yesterday’s expensive beans, a delay that’s more frustrating than waiting for the candy corn to run out.
Mars variety packs, stuffed with M&Ms and Milky Ways, climbed 12%, while Mondelez’s Sour Patch Kids assortment rose 9.4%. Even gummies aren’t immune—talk about a sour patch on the sweet escape.
Hershey coyly raised prices in the “lower double-digit range” this July, but spared Halloween stock… for now. It’s corporate chess, where the queen is a queen-sized Reese’s that’s mysteriously shrunk to fun-size.
Last year, Americans dropped $7.4 billion on Halloween sweets, up 2.2% from 2023. This time, expect pumpkin-spice overload in every non-chocolate nook, as if maple lattes needed a candy sidekick.
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