Scary-high candy costs are giving consumers a fright this Halloween.
Gretchen Alvarez of Sacramento, Calif., said she passed on purchasing a $24 bag of organic, allergy-friendly candy. She bought a few bags of cheaper traditional candy instead.
Because of the rising cost of sweets, Alvarez is limiting each trick-or-treater to one piece of candy. Last year, she let them take as much as they liked.
“It is making me think about if I have enough to get through the night,” said Alvarez, 43 years old. “I bought a couple of bags, and I don’t want to have to go buy more.”
Some people are rethinking their candy quotas as costs rise. Prices for candy and gum jumped 7.5% in September compared with the same month last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. People have been navigating higher prices on many goods and services as the Federal Reserve struggles to tame inflation.
Americans are expected to spend a record $12.2 billion this Halloween on candy, costumes and other expenses, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade association. That is a 15% increase over last year. Consumers are expected to shell out $3.6 billion on candy alone, a 16% increase from 2022.
“I go out and look at these prices and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God,’” said Valentina Casamento of Bayonne, N.J.
Casamento saw a bag of mini Snickers and other chocolates for about $13 at a drugstore. Casamento, a 31-year-old who works as an online clothing reseller, said she has seen the same bag for about $9 in the past.
She plans to splurge anyway, spending about $50.
“It’s Halloween,” she said. “I remember being a kid and the magic of it and I think it’s worth it to spend the money to provide that same experience.”
Prices for cocoa, the key ingredient in chocolate, hit a multidecade high, rising 61% this year, financial services firm ING said. Persistent rain delayed cocoa harvesting in some top producers such as Ghana and Cameroon, hurting supplies, ING said.
The value of chocolate imports into the U.S. rose by 16% in August compared with the same period last year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“That higher cacao price that you are seeing in global markets is effectively being passed through into the food that is being imported to the U.S.,” said Chris Rogers, head of supply-chain research at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Rising cocoa prices have squeezed chocolate producers.
“Like many industries, we continue to face high inflation and spikes in material costs,” said a spokesperson for Mars, the maker of candies such as Skittles and M&Ms. “We work to absorb these extra costs wherever possible.”
Mars last raised its prices in June, the spokesperson said, adding that grocery stores and other retailers set their own prices.
Crystal Johnson is cutting back on Halloween candy this year because of sticker shock. After seeing that a bag of 155 mini chocolates cost $21.97 at a big-box store, Johnson said she plans to buy two bags instead of the five she usually gets. Last year, the bags were about $16, she said.
“You have to sit there and decide, ‘OK do I pay my water bill or do I go buy the amount of candy that I actually know I need,’” said Johnson, a stay-at-home mom in Crosby, Texas. “The water bill has to come first.”
Johnson said her rent this year went up by $300 a month, and she is paying more at the supermarket for chicken, ground beef and bacon. “We’re just having to cut back in places like Halloween candy,” she said.
Caroline Kennedy, a 27-year-old in Cleveland, said she hunts for candy bargains and coupons to make shopping more affordable. Mixed bags of candy are going for about $15 in her area, up from about $11 last year, she said.
“I’m going to be focused on the deals,” said Kennedy, who works as a brand marketer. “I don’t want to cut back if I can. If it gets to be like $20 a bag, that’s probably going to be where I stop.”
Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com and Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com
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