Halloween Candy Fun Facts

Are you a Snickers bar fan or do you crave M&M’s? One quarter of all the candy sold annually is for Halloween night. Here are some fun facts to make the holiday even sweeter!

Candy Corn

• Candy corn was invented in the 1880s by George Renninger of the Wunderlee Candy and is produced today by the Jelly Belly Candy Company.

• October 30th is National Candy Corn Day.

• An estimated 35 million pounds of candy corn, that’s 9 billion pieces, will be produced this year.

M&M’s

• M&M’s were introduced to American GIs during WWII in 1941.

• M&M’s were originally sold in a tube and then packaged in their famed little brown bag in 1948.

• In 1950, the first “M” was imprinted in black on the candy giving the morsels their signature style.

Snickers and Favorite Candy Bars

• Snickers bars have topped the charts for years as the #1 Halloween candy bar.

• Parents favorite treats to sneak from their kids’ trick-or-treat bags are snack-size chocolate bars (70% sneak these)!

• Other favorite candy bars to look for in trick-or-treat bags are Nestlé Crunch, Milky Way, Three Musketeers, and Almond Joy.

HERSHEY’S KISSES

• HERSHEY'S KISSES hit the scene in 1907 and have been on candy shelves ever since with a brief interruption from 1942 to 1949 due to the rationing of silver foil during WWII.

• A popular belief is that the “KISS” got its name from the sound or motion that the machine makes while producing them.

• 76% percent of households will include bite-size chocolate candies in their Halloween activities and 26% percent will go for full-size candy (chocolate and non-chocolate).

We have to give a shout out to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Tootsie Rolls & Pops, Smarties, and Charms Blow Pops, which will also fill the bags of the 93% of children who will go trick-or-treating this year.

A special thanks to the National Confectioners Association for some of the facts in the article! Check them out at CandyUSA.org.