Halloween is just four days away, but this year, the scariest part might not be the costumes, it’s the candy prices.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend a record $13.1 billion on Halloween this year. That includes costumes, decorations, and, of course, candy. The group estimates Americans will spend $3.9 billion on Halloween candy alone, up from $3.5 billion last year.
And the cost keeps climbing, especially for chocolate.
“It’s been mostly due to just the cocoa tariffs going on, and the manufacturing cost for distributors will go up slightly, so prices for us will have to go up as well,” said John Kingery, who works at The Candy Store in Roanoke.
In addition to tariffs, the World Bank reports cocoa prices jumped 30% last year. Poor weather in West Africa, where most of the world’s cocoa is grown, damaged crops and drove chocolate prices up worldwide.
To break the cost down further, this year, the average cost of a 100-piece bag of candy is $16.39, according to FinanceBuzz, up from $9.19 in 2020 and $14.06 last year. FinanceBuzz calculated prices by shopping at Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Albertsons locations across the country.
But, even with the higher prices, shoppers say the tradition of handing out candy on Halloween is still worth it.
Roanoke resident, Sharay Ahdoty, says she doesn’t think too much about the prices since buying candy in bulk isn’t something she does every day.
“We’re just going to always buy the candy, honestly, I mean, no matter what the price is,” Ahdoty said.
Kara Hartman agrees. She said she recently bought more than 2,000 pieces of candy to make sure she has enough for her long neighborhood street.
“We tried to stay under like $200, but it was a lot,” Hartman said. “I don’t love that it’s increased, but I feel like everything has so we will still get it and have fun and celebrate.”
And her three kids were certainly ready for Halloween. “Trick or treat!” they shouted.