Brittany Mitchell used to give out large candy bars to the kids in her neighborhood on Halloween, but doing so no longer makes financial sense.
“I had no problem doing it until I saw the prices of just the basic bags,” she said.
This Halloween season, the Prosper, Texas, resident experienced sticker shock shopping for candy.
First, she went to Walmart. “They wanted $30 to $35 for an average-size candy bag,” Mitchell told HuffPost. And the large candy bags Mitchell saw had significantly fewer candies than she remembered, in what is known as “shrinkflation.”
“Once it got to the $30 to $40 range for 60 pieces of chocolate, it’s just crazy,” Mitchell said.
After multiple shopping trips to compare prices, Mitchell’s final haul included a $10 bag of gummy bears, a $25 mixed chocolate bag and a $10 Rice Krispies bag of treats, all from Costco. “I would love to just do candy, but I wanted to make sure there’s enough for the whole neighborhood and everyone else who comes,” Mitchell said.
New research backs up why the most frightening part of Halloween this year might be the candy prices for American families. According to a new report from Groundwork Collaborative and the Century Foundation, candy prices have spiked 15% in the past year –– a number that outpaces the most recent 3.7% rate of inflation –– and the report blames President Donald Trump’s economic policies as a main cause.
Extreme weather has already led to cocoa and sugar shortages around the globe, impacting candy sales. Trump’s policies made these costs worse.
“Trump’s war in Iran is driving up the cost of plastic and aluminum that’s used in packaging and wrappers,” said Emily DiVito, Groundwork Collaborative’s senior advisor for economic policy, who helped research the report. “That all gets absorbed into the final sale price of these goods, and that’s also increasing the cost of shipping.”
The Most Expensive Candies This Year Are Sour Gummies
Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images
If you are a fan of sour candies, prepare to pucker up, because Mondelez, which makes Sour Patch Kids, had the biggest price increase this year –– 39% –– compared to 2025.
Chocolate candy lovers are also out of luck. Hershey, which makes Halloween staples such as KitKat, Reese’s, Jolly Ranchers and Twizzlers, and Wrigley, which makes Skittles and Starburst, were also in the top 10 candy packs that saw a jump in prices.
Below are the top 10 price surges overall, according to the analysis from Groundwork Collaborative and the Century Foundation:
1. Mondelez Sour Gummy Candy Variety Pack: $3.02 in 2025, now $4.20
2. Hershey Seasonal Peanut Butter Cups: $6.67 in 2025, now $8.23
3. Hershey Non-Chocolate Variety Pack: $24.82 in 2025, now $29.97
4. Hershey Variety Pack: $6.96 in 2025, now $8.33
5. Hershey Hard Candies: $13.70 in 2025, now $16.33
6. Ferrero Chocolate Pack: $4.86 in 2025, now $5.78
7. Wrigley Non-Chocolate Variety Pack: $4.84 in 2025, now $5.68
8. Wrigley Seasonal Chewy Candy Pack: $4.83 in 2025, now $5.58
9. Mars Chocolate Variety Pack: $9.05 in 2025, now $10.25
10. Mondelez Gummy Candy Variety Pack: $3.42 in 2025, now $3.87
These higher prices in candies and chocolates add up. According to one recent LendingTree survey, families expect to spend $73 on just treats this year, and about a quarter expect to go into debt to celebrate this year.
DiVito said the rising costs in candy have created opportunities for candymakers to raise the margins further on consumers.
“The combination of these real economic factors from the Trump administration and then some of the demand factors this Halloween are making candy crazy expensive, especially for some of the most popular kinds,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s families and it’s kids who suffer because Halloween is really all about them, or should be.”
Despite the shopping challenges, Mitchell will not give up the Halloween treat tradition for her family. Her kids talk about Halloween for months before the holiday.
“It’s something that I would never let go away as long as I was able to afford it,” she said. “But I can see how it can stretch people, and it’s hard.”