Greetings and happy pumpkin season! Last year, my devoted listener, Scott Thorne, suggested that I talk about Halloween candy for my October show. I did not do that last October.
A few weeks ago, my devoted listener, Scott Thorne, suggested that I talk about Halloween candy for my October show. Guess what I’m talking about for my October show?
I love Halloween. It brings us warm smells, cool breezes, and it’s the night when the wall between the living and dead, supposedly, are blurred. As a kid, I went trick-or-treating as a witch. It’s befitting, but I digress.
We haven’t had a candy holiday since, what, Easter? It’s too hot for candy in the summer, so Halloween is our next candy holiday!
Though the history of Halloween dates back 2,000 years, the custom of trick-or-treating started in the 1930s when ghosts and goblins were given fruit, cookies, toys, and coins as treats. It was in the 70s when wrapped, factory-made candy was the only acceptable treat for the tricksters.
And the most popular Halloween candy in America, according to Instacart’s 2026 report, is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Some of you may already know that.
Chocolate dominates the rankings with M&M’s—plain and peanut—Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, Snickers, Kit Kat, and Twix at the top. But we also love Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, and those cute little Haribo Gold bears.
There’s lots of preferences across the country. In Missouri, we like Twizzlers. Tootsie Pops are popular in the Southern U.S. Texans like Skittles. Alaska and the Pacific NW like Hi-Chews, a Japanese fruity chewy candy created in 1975 that mimics eating real fruit.
But three states stand out. Pennsylvania likes Swedish Fish. I didn’t see it popular anywhere else. They’re a red, fin-shaped candy created in the 1950s by the Swedish candy company Malaco, designed to appeal to Americans' love for sea-themed snacks. I’m told the flavor is a mix of cherry and raspberry. And they’re vegan.
Folks in Colorado and Wyoming love – drum roll – Candy Corn!
That’s the Halloween candy I always got in my witch hat.
It was originally created in the 1880s at the Wunderle Candy Company, but it was the Goelitz Company that popularized it as “Chicken Feed” because it resembled chicken feed and corn was primarily considered animal feed at the time. Packages of Goelitz’s candy corn from the 1920s displayed a rooster and the motto, “King of the Candy Corn Fields.” Roughly 35 million pounds (or about 9 billion kernels) are produced every year. And, coincidentally, October 30 is National Candy Corn Day.
If you’re celebrating Halloween, treat your trick-or-treaters well if you can. You can’t go wrong with chocolate or fruity and chewy. And the folks in the Pacific Northwest give out the most candy in the U.S.!
Since candy isn’t actually food, I’ll end on a food note. The most popular food costumes this year are a banana, hot dog, peanut butter and jelly, taco, and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. In case you’re looking for some ideas.
Thank you, Scott—in advance—for my Pay Day!
Sources:
https://www.history.com/articles/the-haunted-history-of-halloween-candy
https://www.foodandwine.com/most-popular-halloween-candy-in-america-instacart-report-2026-12164869
https://company.instacart.com/data-trends/instacart-s-halloween-sweet-tooth-report-reese-s-is-1-regional-candy-quirks-and-the-iconic-banana-costume
https://www.history.com/articles/candy-corn-invented
https://www.spookylittlehalloween.com/blog/candy-corn-fun-facts
