Every year, Americans throw away about $400 million worth of uneaten sweets from trick-or-treating. That’s a lot of food waste. But the fix is simple: stop giving away candies that kids don’t like (candy corn, anyone?) and give away treats that they do enjoy.
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To help you buy the sweets that trick-or-treaters will actually eat, candystore.com has published a study on the most popular candy by state. The company looked into their Halloween sales of the last 15 years, and found that Reese’s Cups are the most popular of all, taking the top spot in California, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Wyoming.
The runner-up to the peanut butter brand is Skittles, as it was found to be the favorite in Alabama and Oklahoma, while also being a second or third choice by many in Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In third place is M&M’s, as it topped in places like Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.
Here’s the complete list of most popular Halloween candies in the United States:
Perhaps the most surprising inclusion on the list is candy corn. Although many hate one of the country’s oldest sweets, it actually has a big enough following in Idaho, Maine, Michigan, New York, and Utah, to include it in the top 10.
The report added that some 172 million Americans will celebrate Halloween this year, and that 95 percent will buy candy, with each person spending $27.55 on average. In addition, about $10.6 billion will be spent on the annual celebration, and $3.1 billion of it goes to buying treats.
With so much candy going around (and so much of it left uneaten), be sure to pick the ones that kids (or you!) will be excited to get this spooky season. Plus, you can always bake with any leftovers.
