What’s in Your Halloween Haul?

After a truly spooky year, Americans plan on celebrating Halloween in a big way. Expected spending on candy is projected to hit $3 billion.

This Halloween, don’t be tricked by candy corporations. They want to send U.S. sugar policy to the grave so they can buy unlimited amounts of subsidized foreign sugar. They’ll try to tell you a haunting tale, but the truth is that U.S. sugar policy has provided stable sugar prices and a reliable domestic source for an essential ingredient – even throughout a global pandemic that has snarled global supply chains.

That means you’ll be ready to fill the bags of all the trick-or-treaters who come knocking at your door on Halloween.

While corporate confectioners want to spook you into thinking that sugar policy is hurting their Halloween profits, the reality is that sugar is only a small part of the cost of your Halloween haul. (Not to mention, a peer-reviewed study recently said “Boo!” to that claim, finding that sugar policy does not impede the profitability of sugar-using manufacturers.)

We analyzed some favorite Halloween candies and found that America’s hardworking farmers and workers will receive just pennies for these sweet treats. Now, that should send a chill up your spine.

Follow along with us on Facebook and Twitter while we unmask how little sugar producers will receive this Halloween.

For example, a bag of candy corn that costs $1.59 contains less than $0.11 of sugar. One serving of candy corn contains less than $0.02 of sugar. The farmer who grew that sugar will receive even less.

A $4.99 bag of peanut butter cups contains about $0.13 of sugar, adding up to less than $0.01 of sugar in each sweet treat.

A fun-sized bag of chocolate candies is the perfect size to toss in a trick-or-treater’s bag, but what’s not so fun is how little sugar producers receive for the sugar in that candy. Two fun-sized bags will run about $0.40, with less than one penny going to sugar producers.

A bag of lollipops will cost you $3.29, with just $0.17 going back to the sugar producer. But how many pennies of sugar does it take to produce a lollipop? Just one.

A $13.99 bag of chocolate kisses contains just $0.47 of sugar. That amounts to a ghoulish $0.01 per serving for our sugar farmers and workers.

A package of chewy fruit candy costs $4.29 and contains less than $0.20 of sugar. That’s less than $0.01 per Halloween-treat-sized serving going back to the sugar farmers who grew the sugar crop.

This Halloween, we’ll be thanking the sugar farmers still hard at work in the fields harvesting and the workers who will make those crops into sugar.
On behalf of America’s sugar producers, have a very happy – and sweet – Halloween!