A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Halloween is a week away. So if you don't want sugar-starved kids to TP the yard, it's time to make sure that you have some goodies on hand. Thing is, keeping those candy bowls stocked is getting more expensive as chocolate prices are rising for the second year in a row. NPR's Alina Selyukh explains why.
ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE: A couple of years ago, Stephanie Espinosa moved to a new town, Babcock Ranch in Florida - a town with a spooky surprise.
STEPHANIE ESPINOSA: Our town is very into Halloween. We did not realize how big Halloween is here. October 1, everyone's - already their houses are decorated.
SELYUKH: Espinosa and her husband got into it. Their oak tree in the yard is now haunted by a floating ghost. Palm trees have sprouted glowing eyeballs. But the real fright for them was the cost of Halloween candy, which they buy in bulk at Walmart.
ESPINOSA: We bought some bags that - you know, it said around a hundred to a hundred and twenty pieces last year for, like, 9.95. And those bags are now, like, $15. You know, do the math. We have, like, 5,000 kids in our town, and that's just a bag of between 100 and 120 pieces.
SELYUKH: Federal data shows the price of chewing gum and candy going up more than 8% from a year ago, and it's mainly because of one specific type of candy, which is chocolate as harvests of cocoa keep coming up short for three years. David Branch tracks agricultural markets at Wells Fargo.
DAVID BRANCH: What's really driving increase is the weather.
SELYUKH: Most of the world's cocoa beans grow in West Africa, where farmers have dealt with extreme weather, changing climate patterns and disease in their aging trees. The price of cocoa has more than doubled since the beginning of last year, Branch says. And so all the major chocolate makers have raised their prices - Nestle, Lindt, Hershey and Mars, which makes M&M's, Snickers and Twix. And they are resorting to tricks to make their treats.
BRANCH: We're seeing a lot more fillers going in, a lot more with wafers, nuts. They're putting more nuts, less chocolate. Keeping the price the same, just reducing the amount of cocoa costs that's going in it.
SELYUKH: Reese's now makes a peanut butter cup that's half-dipped in white cream. It's a mashup with Oreo cookies. KitKat comes dipped in white chocolate, which has no cocoa.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: Have a break. Have a KitKat. And try KitKat vanilla.
SELYUKH: For Halloween, KitKat launched a version called Ghost Toast with cinnamon and Witch's Brew, which is green with marshmallow flavor. Stephanie Espinosa, from the Halloween-crazy town in Florida, noticed another tactic.
ESPINOSA: The bags for chocolate are definitely smaller now, and there's, like, less pieces.
SELYUKH: Shrinkflation is real in the candy aisles. And then there's one other change.
ESPINOSA: The mixed bags are definitely - you can see that there's less of the chocolate pieces in the mixes and more like SweeTARTS or gummies or things like that.
SELYUKH: Non-chocolate candy is having a big moment. Sales of gummy, sour, fruity stuff are growing much faster than chocolate lately. Shoppers are still spending more dollars on chocolate treats, but they're buying fewer of them. Espinosa says this was a hard decision for her this Halloween. In her old neighborhood, they were a chocolate house. But now, expecting hordes of trick-or-treaters, they had to budget, choosing Tootsie Rolls and Fruit Chews.
ESPINOSA: We did what was more cost-efficient for us. And, you know, the kids are probably going to be like, we don't like that house on the end of the street 'cause they don't give the good candy. But we try.
SELYUKH: Overall, Halloween is still a splurgy time, expected to set a new spending record as people sort of squint at prices and choose to let the ghoul times roll.
Alina Selyukh, NPR News.
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