By
Emily Moquin
October 24, 2022 at 5:00 am ET
Candy continues to define Halloween, but variety-loving and health-conscious consumers are adding more options to their trick-or-treat selections. Brands and retailers should prepare for this expansion of choice to continue, driven by the holiday’s biggest celebrators.
Halloween is back in a big way in 2022. After two years of more muted pandemic-influenced celebrations, consumers are looking forward to a Halloween that is less clouded by coronavirus concerns.
The share of all U.S. adults planning to celebrate the October holiday reached 62% this year, marking a return to 2019 levels. The hallmark Halloween activity, trick-or treating, is also back on the agenda. Roughly 4 in 5 parents say they plan to let their children participate, a 12 percentage point climb from 2021 and also on par with the pre-pandemic share.
As decorations, costumes and candy are added to shoppers’ carts in preparation for the return of a fun-filled holiday, new items may make their way in alongside these traditional Halloween provisions — an emerging trend is that some consumers are looking for more variety and choice in what they’re passing out to trick-or-treaters.
The return of Halloween celebrations and trick-or-treating means more candy, of course. More people are planning to hand out candy, and anticipated spending is higher as well.
The share of all U.S. adults who plan to hand out candy this year increased 8 points over last year, and relatedly, the share of Halloween celebrators planning to spend $21 or more on candy increased 7 points. But as people fill up children’s Halloween baskets this year, many are also adding alternatives, like savory snacks and toys, to the mix.
This higher spending is largely a factor of more people planning to celebrate Halloween and participate in trick-or-treating. Last year, with fewer planning to celebrate, a larger share planned to spend $10 or less — or nothing at all — on candy. But the increase in anticipated spending is also likely driven by inflation in the candy aisle to some extent.
Generation, income, parental status and community type are all related to how likely a person is to participate in the predominant Halloween activity. Gen Z adults (70%), millennials (76%), higher-income consumers (76%), parents (79%), and urban (65%) and suburban (67%) dwellers are most likely to say they will hand something out to trick-or-treaters.
Candy is far and away the top choice across every demographic. However, there are emerging alternatives — niche to be sure, but more popular with the same demographics that are most likely to participate in trick-or-treating. In fact, around a quarter (26%) of those handing something out plan to offer options that aren’t candy.
Longer term, health and wellness trends underscore the staying power of these options. Health is the top-cited reason for handing out alternatives to candy. Among those Halloween celebrators who are planning to hand out other options, just over half (51%) said having a healthier alternative to candy is a reason, and 44% said they prefer not to give candy to children in the interest of health. This is in line with larger healthy eating goals — 35% of U.S. adults said they were looking to reduce their sugar intake in September.
To be clear, this is not a complete rejection of Halloween as a candy-centric holiday. The emphasis is on variety and options. Most (73%) who plan to hand out something other than candy also plan to offer candy. And, while health may be a key driver, that shouldn’t be interpreted as a strike against the fun factor. For the most part, this is a case of consumers looking for balance and moderation by adding items that are just as fun without the sugar rush. Many young trick-or-treaters are likely to be just as excited to immediately unwrap a glow stick or bring a Halloween-themed eraser to school the next day as they are to dive into their pile of candy.
Digging deeper, we uncovered key demographic differences connected with a person being more likely to hand out a candy alternative this Halloween. Age, attitudes toward parenting, income and food allergies in the household are all related to handing out other trick-or-treat options.
Each of the above findings are still significant in our analysis, even when we take into account other factors that may be related to preferences for candy alternatives, like generation, income, attitudes toward parenting, allergies in the household and community type.
As the demographic groups most likely to leave their porch lights lit on Halloween night reach for more variety and are influenced by longer-term health and wellness trends, brands and retailers can expect growth of alternative treats to continue. The good news is that Halloween candy is one category millennials haven’t killed — yet.