Halloween and Candy: By The Numbers
Everyone associates candy with Halloween, but how much does the candy industry rely on Halloween each year? Let’s take a look at the surprising numbers behind candy and Halloween, as well as ways candy brands can reap the benefits of this sweet holiday.
Halloween is the biggest of big when it comes to candy consumption. This holiday generates over $2 billion6 with the average household spending $44 dollars on Halloween candy.In fact, 25% of the candy industry’s revenue is made during the Halloween season. Between parties, trick-or-treating, school events, and general consumption, Americans buy 90 million pounds of chocolate during the week of Halloween, accounting for more than half of all Halloween candy sold. Of all chocolate brands, M&M’s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Snickers round out the top three. Of course, Halloween isn’t complete without snack-size Skittles or Blow-Pops – 30% of Americans buy hard candy and lollipops, while 19% purchase chewy candy.
Halloween parties and events account for big portion of candy sales as well. 28% of people buy candy for holiday entertaining. This presents a huge opportunity for candy brands. The celebrations industry and the dollars that hosts and guests spend on candy offer candy marketers a captive audience during peak seasonal times. As these times quickly approach, now is the time for brands to understand the party planning process, including timing, planning tasks, and what’s helpful to the host.
Here are a few things that candy brands should consider as they target the celebrations industry during the coming holiday season:
- Women plan the majority of celebrations. They choose the theme, send invitations, buy decorations, coordinate favors, do the shopping and of course, plan the menu. Great parties aren’t planned in a rush – 4 to 6 weeks is the average time spent planning a detailed event. The modern party host relies on the Internet to plan her party, including tasks like sending invitations and compiling party ideas.
- Show hosts whyyour brand is the optimal choice through appropriately-timed advertising on sites that they turn to for party-planning. Depending on your brand and the occasion, this could be a message of product variety (candies for baking, favors, etc.), seasonality (Cadbury eggs at Easter, chocolates at Valentine’s Day), personalization (ability to customize products for her event), or some other factor that your brand feels can impact the host’s decision.
- Make your website a real experience. Envision the entire party for the host on your site. For example, at Christmas, suggest ways to use your candy to decorate the tree and house, provide creative recipes that include your brand and even offer solutions for removing chocolate candy stains out after the party is over.
Learn more strategies to reach party hosts and their guests during the critical holiday season in the free white paper, Finding the Sweet Spot: 20 Stats About Candy & Celebrations.
Posted by Katie Petrillo