Bad news first, deal-hunters: your candy bowl is about to cost you way more than it did last Halloween. Good news: this is exactly the kind of problem we live for. New pricing data shows chocolate is up nearly 30% since last Halloween — and a jaw-dropping 78% over the past five years. A standard 100-piece variety bag now averages $16.39, up from just $9.19 back in 2020. Americans are on track to spend a record $13 billion this Halloween season, with $3.9 billion of that going straight into candy bowls. That’s roughly $114.45 per person. Yeah, we felt that number too.
Why Your Candy Bill Ballooned
This one’s not just “inflation, ugh” — it’s a real supply chain squeeze. A years-long cocoa shortage tied to damaged crops in West Africa sent cocoa prices soaring to $12,000 a ton, compared to just $2,300 a ton back in 2020. Stack new tariffs on top — 21% on Ivory Coast cocoa imports and 15% on Ecuador’s — and you get sticker shock up and down the candy aisle: Hershey’s variety packs are running 22.1% higher than last year, and Tootsie Roll variety packs are up a wild 32.1%.
“What we once bought for like $4 a pound is now $12 to $15 a pound.”
— Bernard Garbusjuk, candy maker
Nearly 80% of Halloween shoppers now expect to pay more this year, and over half say the higher prices are actually changing how they shop. Translation: this is the year store-hopping and smart substitutions pay off more than ever — and it’s exactly where Aldi, Costco, and Trader Joe’s earn their keep.
Where to Actually Save This Year
- Aldi: Name-brand big bags are running $10 to $15 right now — no membership card required — and they’re stocked right alongside the rest of Aldi’s Halloween lineup, including the Spooky Emporium Halloween cheese wheels at $4.29 each if you want to round out the party spread.
- Costco: This is the bulk play. Giant variety bags packing 200+ pieces of M&M’s, Snickers, Twix, and Milky Way routinely land at some of the best per-piece prices anywhere, as long as you’ve got pantry space and a membership card. Pair it with a showstopper like Costco’s smashable Chocolate Frankenstein Head if you want something for the table, not just the bowl.
- Trader Joe’s: Less about bulk candy pricing, more about the full Halloween experience — grab a few of the $2.99 Halloween mini totes to actually hand candy out in while you’re there.
The Swap That’s Quietly Saving Everyone Money
Here’s the trend nobody saw coming: hard candy and variety packs are now outselling chocolate in e-commerce, with hard candy becoming the second-biggest moneymaker in candy sales on Amazon. It’s not that kids suddenly love Jolly Ranchers more than Reese’s — it’s that the grown-ups doing the buying are stretching their budgets.
“It’s not about what kids want — it’s about what adults are buying.”
— Marty Bauer, Omnisend
Hard candy doesn’t melt in a warm car, it’s cheaper per piece, and it stretches a bag further when 30-plus trick-or-treaters show up at your door in a two-hour window. Still, 84% of hosts say they plan to hand out chocolate and candy no matter what — so the real move isn’t ditching chocolate, it’s mixing in cheaper hard candy to bulk up the bowl, tossing in a few non-candy treats like mini popcorn bags, and doing your actual shopping across two or three stores instead of one.
Bottom Line
Yes, candy is pricier this year — genuinely, noticeably pricier. But between Aldi’s no-membership bag deals, Costco’s bulk-buy math, and a little strategic mixing of hard candy and chocolate, there’s still a version of Halloween where your bowl looks amazing and your bank account doesn’t cry about it. Shop smart, shop early (before the good stuff gets picked over), and don’t be afraid to hit more than one store.
Already noticed the price jump at your store? Tell us where you found the best Halloween candy deal this week — Aldi, Costco, or Trader Joe’s — in the comments!
Photo credits: Image 1 via Newsweek (Getty Images). Image 2 via Hip2Save.
