(LibertySociety.com) – The spooky season is officially here, and children across the country are gearing up to fill a bag full of goodies on Halloween night. However, those who plan to foot the bill for the fun-filled tradition of handing out sugary treats to neighborhoods of candy-loving children will have to dig deeper into their wallets this Halloween.
Six of the world’s top ten sugar-producing countries have struggled during farming season this year due to uncooperative weather, which has caused the price of sugar to go up. Droughts and flooding have played the biggest role in the tumultuous season, but rainfall around harvest time was the most egregious. The International Sugar Organization reported a 42 percent increase in sugar prices over the last year, and sugar prices are the highest they have been in 12 years, at 31.54 cents per pound.
Although sugar prices have gone up, one prominent candy company is not concerned. The senior communications manager for The Hershey Company, Todd Scott, said in July that “the price of sugar does not have any impact on our Halloween.” Despite the increase in candy prices, Americans are set to spend a record $12.2 billion on Halloween overall, which includes money spent on costumes and décor. The current record for the highest Halloween spending was in 2017 when Americans spent $9.1 billion. Rising inflation has increased the cost of goods over the last few years, making it the key ingredient for record Halloween spending.
The National Retail Federation’s annual survey showed that while Americans will be spending more, 40 percent will be doing their Halloween shopping at discount retail stores. However, 39 percent are still planning to shop at specialty stores for the holiday, and another 32 percent will be buying online. Although candy and décor will certainly get their fair share of the revenue at $3.6 and $3.9 billion, respectively, Halloween costumes will bring in the most at $4.1 billion.
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