Blame this familiar orange ghoul for spooky high Halloween candy prices
I don’t mean to be scary, but has anyone else felt a thrill while walking down the Halloween candy aisle?
Unfortunately, it may not be invisible ghosts that make you shudder, but the price of chocolate. The price of popular treats has been on the rise for some time now, and last year was no exception.
According to research conducted by Financial buzz, the price of 100-piece candy bags has increased on average by about $2 this year compared to 2024. And those who bought the big bags every Halloween to hand out candy or just eat it on the couch may remember an even more affordable time.
Since 2020, the price of 100-piece goodie bags has increased by 78%. On average, that’s an increase of about $7 for treats over the past five years.
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Chocolate as a whole is facing a cost crisis. And when President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariffs came for the big cocoa exporters like in Brazil, West Africa and Ecuador, over the summer people grabbed their favorite cocoa confections.
Trump granted an exemption for cocoa products I come from Indonesia in August, with discussions about granting a sweeping exemption for cocoa exporters given that the product cannot be manufactured locally aside from a small portion coming from Hawaii.
Daily Kos attempted to reach the United States Trade Representative’s Office to confirm these details, but given the current shutdown, phone lines were unattended and emails went unanswered.
And while Trump’s tariffs could be a simple scapegoat for rising prices, major U.S. chocolate producers say it’s more harmful than that.
A Hershey representative explained that the “unprecedented” rise in the cost of cocoa put a strain on their production costs, ultimately leading to the need to raise prices on some of their chocolate products.
Nestlé, which makes the beloved KitKat and Butterfinger brands, did not respond to Daily Kos’ request for comment.
But it is climate change that appears to be the major challenge for chocolate makers trying to keep prices low.
Major cocoa exporters like West Africa have been hit hard by increasingly tumultuous weather conditions. And with supply dwindling, well, you know how it goes.
The scariest part of all this chocolatey geopolitical talk is that the Trump administration has done its part to ensure that cocoa – and all other crops – never experience their glory days again.
Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Lee Zeldin dismantled programs studying climate change while being proudly announcing he was ready to “stab a dagger into the heart of the religion of climate change.”
To make matters worse, Zeldin openly stated that he no longer believes in the harmful effects of greenhouse gases.
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In other words, don’t expect the United States — a major producer of environmental damage through big business — to help make your candy bars cheaper.
As we turn to rudimentary environmental regulations and nonexistent studies on climate change, deducing the culprit behind the cocoa industry’s struggle is no whodunnit.
