What Treat Do You Give Out on Halloween?

In case you have not yet purchased your Halloween treats, Art Raymond has some information for you that could determine your selection.

Shopping data gathered ahead of upcoming Halloween celebrations finds one favorite confection continues to dominate for American shoppers while a few, lesser known retro goodies appear to be staging comebacks….

Recent shopping data shared by delivery services Doordash and Instacart show that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are the No. 1 choice in the U.S. this time of year for  trick-or- treat bags and home candy bowls, and it’s a spot the peanut butter and chocolate delight has held down for years.

Many may not know that the premiere Reese’s treat has been around since 1928 and was developed by a former employee of the U.S. king of chocolate, Hershey’s.

Harry Burnett (H.B.) Reese started making and selling his “penny cups” as a side hustle, leaning on a name that reflected how much he charged for the candies at the time, according to a Business Insider report. While Reese would go on to find great success with his candy innovations, his six sons sold the company in 1963, seven years after their father’s death. In a circular twist of fate, the purchaser was Hershey’s, which paid $23.5 million for the enterprise.

Hershey’s is the maker of another perennial favorite among Halloween candy buyers, its classic milk chocolate bar, while the Mars company has a couple of entrants in the top five including Snickers and M&Ms.

Doordash notes that other contenders have cracked the top 10 including Sour Patch Kids and Skittles, a sign that Americans may be turning back toward “nostalgic comfort in the timeless classics.”

About half of the article discussed candy corn and reported on a survey. I am one of the 20% who dislike candy corn a lot (like a lot 29%, somewhat like 35%, somewhat dislike 16%, don’t know/no opinion 0%), so if you desire to know more about candy corn, I invite you to link to Raymond’s article here. The only use I have for candy corn is to make jack-o-lantern faces on my sugar cookies for my children – so I may be inadvertently encouraging their production. 

Just so you know, I do not purchase Reese’s peanut butter cups, Hershey’s chocolate bar, Snickers, or M&Ms as my Halloween treat. I choose the middle road between candy and healthy snacks – fruit snacks. This way, I can eat any leftover treats!