Trick-Or-Treat-Or Not - We're Buying Candy!

The jury is still out on Halloween. Is the fear of potential exposure to the Coronavirus scarier that the ghost or goblin down the block? Will the kids dress up and go out? Will You? Time will tell but what we do know already is that candy sales seem to be rolling towards a semi-normal Halloween season.

Americans are stocking up with U.S. sales of Halloween candy shooting up 13% over last year—a larger jump than the usual single-digit numbers. Sales of Halloween chocolate alone are up 25%.

This jump may be due to earlier Halloween displays at some chains, but Americans may just need a sugar fix after months of stress and anxiety. Some suggest it's people excited for a little sense of normalcy,

"Candy makers rely on the Halloween period for nearly 14% of their annual $36 billion in U.S. sales with Halloween the biggest holiday of the year for candy makers, followed closely by Christmas and Easter. Valentine's Day is a distant fourth."

Still, the talk of a fall spike of Coronavirus could have an impact later in October. Company officials say fifty-five percent of Mars Wrigley's Halloween candy sales usually happen in the last two weeks of October.

So while traditional activities like trick-or-treat outings or the popular trunk-or-treat alternatives may or may not take place, if last year's candy favorites survey holds true, we do know what kind of candy your fellow Americans are buying.

According to a poll from Monmouth University, "more than 36% of Americans say Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are their favorite Halloween treat. It's more than twice the number of people who chose Snickers (18%) as their favorite. M&M's ranked third at 11%, while Hershey bars tied with candy corn in fourth place, capturing 6% each."

The full list of Americans' favorite candy, according to the poll: