A 200-piece chocolate variety bag containing Milky Way, M&M’s, Peanut M&M’s, Snickers and Twix sold for three different prices at three different Sacramento stores this week, ranging from $24.87 at Walmart to $32.99 at Safeway, with Target landing in between at $25.99. The comparison, drawn from prices checked on October 28, illustrates just how much sticker shock is hitting trick-or-treaters' candy bowls this year as costs climb nationwide heading into Halloween weekend.
The price swings in Sacramento mirror a national pattern. Candy and gum prices have climbed 44% over the past five years, compared with a 22.5% increase in prices for food eaten at home, according to USA Today. Fox News reported that candy and chewing gum prices rose 8.1% in August compared with a year earlier, more than double the 3.4% increase in overall consumer prices. The Sacramento comparison, first reported by The Sacramento Bee, was conducted by reporter Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado, a service journalism reporter at the paper who previously worked at the Star Democrat in Annapolis, Maryland, and holds a master's degree in journalism from Georgetown University.
Smaller Bags, Shrinking Sales
Nationally, shoppers are responding to the higher prices by buying less. Halloween candy sales fell 6.7% in the month ending Oct. 17 compared with the same period in 2025, per NielsenIQ data cited by USA Today. That followed an even steeper 11.7% decline in candy sales in mid-September, which wiped out preseason gains seen in the previous two years, the outlet reports.
Not every package size is struggling equally. Small bags were the only package size recording sales growth through mid-October, while large and extra-large bags saw the steepest declines, according to the same NielsenIQ figures reported by USA Today. The Associated Press has separately reported that shoppers are buying less candy overall this season.
What's Driving Up Cocoa Costs
Behind the price tags sits a volatile cocoa market. Global cocoa prices hit a record $10,710 per metric ton in January 2025 amid poor weather in West Africa, USA Today reports, following an earlier run that saw cocoa climb above $11,000 per metric ton in April 2024 and reach a record $12,565 that December, according to CNBC. Cocoa prices have fluctuated amid supply risks, and Goldman Sachs has warned that a potentially powerful El Niño could leave the cocoa market vulnerable to another supply squeeze, per the same CNBC report.
Chocolate makers have spent years trying to offset those historically high cocoa costs through price increases, smaller packages, hedging and reformulated products, CNBC notes. The New York Times reports that the average price of a 100-piece bag of Halloween candy has reached $16.96, up a staggering 71 percent since 2021. Farmers' Almanac has attributed the squeeze to chocolate manufacturers passing higher ingredient costs on to shoppers.
Shoppers Hunt for Bulk Deals
The sticker shock has sent some shoppers scrambling for discount bulk options. Google searches for inexpensive bulk Halloween candy are up more than 5,000 percent year-over-year, according to the Times report. One Utah resident told the paper she considered turning off the porch light rather than hand out candy this year, before ultimately spending $21.39 on a Costco bag of 90 mixed chocolate bars.
Other retailers show similarly wide swings in per-piece pricing. Aldi was advertising a 135-piece variety pack of Mars Inc. chocolate bars for $19.87 during the week of Oct. 29, according to Fortune. Walmart's website separately lists a 200-piece Mars Minis variety pack for $29.50, and a smaller 55-piece Hershey assorted chocolate pack weighing 23.05 ounces for $11.94, working out to 51.8 cents per ounce. Fortune also reports that the average price of non-chocolate Halloween candy was $6.08 per pound in the nine weeks ending Oct. 17, about 3% lower than the prior year — a rare bright spot for budget-conscious buyers filling the candy bowl before Saturday.
