Is ‘Now’ the Best Time To Buy Halloween Candy In New York?

It feels like this happens every time a big event comes around.  We are still months away from Halloween and already they're talking about shortages.

I have to be honest.  I don't normally do a lot of the shopping for things like this in our household so maybe you weren't as shocked as I was last year when my wife asked me to grab a bag of candy to hand out to the kids for Halloween and it was anywhere between $35 and $40 a bag.

I couldn't believe it!  And those weren't even the biggest bags!

Now they're saying that this year could be worse.

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Why is Halloween candy so expensive?

Prices are almost always determined by supply and demand.  When there isn't a lot of something, its price goes up.  When we have a bunch, they want to get rid of it and the price goes down. There's one huge reason for the high prices of candy these days.  Its' the main ingredient.  Sugar is in short supply.

They're calling it "Sugarflation" and it could end up costing you more this year in October.

Why is sugar in short supply?

According to Axios, the problem lies in the sugar program that we've had in this country for 90 years now.  The policy states that 85% of U.S. sugar purchases must come from domestic processors.  It's a policy that is great for U.S. sugar producers, but when there isn't as much sugar available, candy makers end up paying a lot more to make their own products.  Of course, that extra cost gets passed on to the consumer.

Will the price of sugar be going down anytime soon?

Last year, Hershey warned that they were going to be dealing with shortages and didn't know if they would be able to meet demand.  But this year, they're saying that it's a different story.

“Our production is busy and our warehouses are full. There is not going to be a shortage for Halloween,” - Todd Scott, Hershey’s senior manager of communications

Sadly, that doesn't mean it will be cheaper because many of these companies are hoping to get ahead of the sugar shortage.  However, meeting demand shouldn't be an issue.

As demand goes up, so will prices.  The demand for candy will be highest around October so if you can store it somewhere, it might not be a bad idea to stock up on some now.