Halloween candy aisles see shift amid sky-cocoa prices

Trick-or-treaters can expect to see a trend this Halloween that might be scary to some: fewer chocolate candies in their bags than in years past.

A shortage of cocoa beans over the past year has sent prices for the key ingredient for chocolate soaring, leading candy companies and consumers alike to lean toward non-chocolate treats.

A family shops for Halloween candy at a Walmart Supercenter on October 16, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Due in part to a shortage of cocoa beans, Halloween candy prices are on the rise this year as chocolate prices have climbed 7.5%. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images / Getty Images)

U.S. confectionery companies are stocking store shelves with fewer Halloween chocolates and doubling down instead on cheaper gummies and licorice such as Mondelez’s Sour Patch Kids and Hershey’s Twizzlers ghosts, according to market research firm Circana.

“Chocolate candy, there’s just not as many items per retailer on shelf,” said Dan Sadler, principal of client insights at Circana, who focuses on confection. “We’re seeing double-digit increases in non-chocolate items.”

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Cocoa prices are up 88% from a year ago according to Trending Economics data, after hitting a record high in the spring after a double whammy of extreme weather and disease-battered cocoa plants in the top-producing West African region signaled supply shortages could be prolonged.

A global shortage of raw cocoa beans driven by low crop yields in West Africa has caused the price of cocoa to soar over the past year. (Photographer: Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Nidhi Jain, commodity specialist at procurement intelligence firm The Smart Cube, told FOX Business the dramatic rise is driven by concerns over tight cocoa supplies particularly in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together produce approximately 60% of the world’s cocoa.

Clay Cary at CouponFollow told FOX Business that chocolate candies have always been more expensive than their non-chocolate counterparts, but this year, the company’s data found that chocolate candy costs 62% more, on average, than other candy.

“While it’s typical for chocolates to be more expensive, the latest spike in costs has pushed that difference even further compared to other sweets not made from chocolate,” Cary said. “Anyone looking to buy chocolates for Halloween should brace themselves because high cocoa costs aren’t going away anytime soon.”

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In other bad news for candy lovers, Jain says sugar prices are expected to rise over the rest of 2024, due to supply disruptions in major producing nations like Brazil and India, combined with seasonal demand growth.

Prices on sugary non-chocolate sweets – though still cheaper than chocolate – are also up double digits this year, according to Circana.

Trick-or-treaters can expect to see fewer chocolate treats this Halloween after the high price of chocolate caused a shift toward non-chocolate candies. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images / Getty Images)

There is not only less chocolate candy for Halloween in stores, but it is also more expensive. Prices on seasonal chocolate candy have increased by as much as 7.5% from last year, Sadler said.

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But the high prices have not stopped consumers from stocking up for their trick-or-treaters this year. S&P Global expects spending on Halloween candy to rise 3.5% in 2024 to a record $4.1 billion.

Reuters contributed to this report.