Halloween candy season now starts in late summer and runs right through to October 31 — and Americans are expected to spend $4.1 billion on it this year.
It’s also the season for new limited-time candy launches. This year, Twix turned into skulls, Snickers into pumpkins and Oreo into chocolate ghosts, while others tried bolder ideas like freeze-dried Skittles and Sour Patch Kids that glow under blacklight.
So which ones will shoppers go for? We put 11 of this year’s new Halloween candies head to head to find out.
Here’s what stood out.
1. Chocolate wins Halloween. All four chocolate candies took 27% to 39% of first-choice votes, and none of the seven non-chocolate candies reached the 20% average. All four were also the candies people most wanted as a treat for themselves, and Kit Kat, Twix and Snickers lead on relevance and believability. Even the shoppers who said they wanted brand new candy picked chocolate first. For chocolate brands, a seasonal twist on a favorite is a sure win!
2. A new shape is all a favorite needs to feel new. Most shoppers (63%) are sticking with their favorites this Halloween, either in Halloween packs or in new shapes and flavors. A new shape also makes familiar candy feel different: Oreo, Snickers and Kit Kat are rated the most distinctive candies in the study (4.0 each), significantly ahead of Jolly Rancher Trickies and Sour Patch Kids Glow Ups (3.7 each). We see season after season that small seasonal updates to existing products are the most likely to be purchased at Halloween.
3. Bold ideas get noticed but a familiar flavor gets picked. People called Sour Patch Kids Glow Ups fun, unique and spooky more than any other candy, but it still came seventh in the ranking. Skittles Pop’d won on texture but split opinion, with 27% ranking it last. The bold idea that did best, Jolly Rancher Trickies, built its surprise on flavors people already know. You can use a playful twist to get attention but make sure people trust the taste underneath.
4. A limited-edition label gets people to try, but only half will pay more for it.
Six in 10 like trying new limited-edition candy but 47% would pay more for one — and that falls to 38% among 46–75s. With candy prices already up 8% on last year, use the limited-edition label as a reason to try but don’t count on it carrying a premium.
Halloween candy is usually talked about as something you buy to give away. But in our research, slightly more people said they’d buy candy just for themselves or their household (50%) than those who will hand it out to trick-or-treaters (47%).
Another 30% are buying for a party or event, and 28% are taking kids trick-or-treating.
Most people are sticking with their favorites this Halloween, whether that’s in Halloween packs (31%) or in new Halloween shapes or flavors (32%). Only about a quarter (24%) are most likely to go for brand new candy that’s only available at Halloween.
That tells brands how far to go with a seasonal launch: most consumers want the candy they already love, made to feel like Halloween.
6 in 10 like trying new limited-edition candy but fewer than half (47%) would pay more for one. That drops to 38% among 46–75s. With candy prices already up 8% on last year, a limited edition can win the first purchase but brands shouldn’t count on it carrying a premium.
So a Halloween launch has two jobs: give people a candy they already want and a reason to buy it now.
Which of this year’s candies pulled that off? Let’s find out!
Familiar favorites in new shapes
Bolder ideas
We tested the candies with our Screen It solution among 330 US adults. They saw a pack image and a short description of each candy with no prices.
Each person saw five candies, so every candy was seen by about 150 people. First, they ranked their five from the one they’d be most likely to buy to the least. A candy’s score is the share of people who ranked it first (its “first-choice votes”), and with five candies to choose from, 20% is average.
Then they rated each candy from 1 to 5 on how likely they’d be to buy it (purchase likelihood), how different it is from what’s already out there (distinctiveness), whether it’s better than what’s available (advantage), how relevant it is to them (relevance) and how believable it is (believability). They also picked the words that describe each candy and told us what they liked and disliked about their top and bottom picks.
Chocolate is the clear winner this Halloween. Kit Kat Count & Witch (39% of first-choice votes) and Snickers Pumpkins (37%) come out on top, with Twix Skulls (28%) and Oreo Chocolate Creme Filled Ghosts (27%) close behind.
All four take a brand people already love and turn it into Halloween-shaped chocolate. Chocolate dominates, as none of the seven non-chocolate candies reached the 20% average.
The third place ranking hides how strong Twix Skulls really is. More people rank it second (37%) than first, but it has the highest purchase likelihood of all 11 candies (86%). Kit Kat (83%) and Snickers (82%) are close behind.
Jolly Rancher Gummies Trickies (19%) is the best of the rest. At the other end, new better-for-you brand Häppy Candy Halloween Pack (6%) has the fewest first-choice votes while Brach’s Spooky Graveyard Mellowcreme is the candy people rank last most often (36%).
Digging a little deeper, here are the candies that scored highest on each attribute:
The chocolate candies won the ones that normally drive purchase (taste, quality, a treat for yourself), and the gummies and bolder ideas won the ones that get attention (fun, unique, spooky, surprising).
Overall, “spooky” was one of the lower-scoring attributes, picked by 20% to 33% of people for each candy. Snickers Pumpkins was the least spooky candy of all 11 and still came second, suggesting people don’t necessarily need their Halloween candy to be scary.
Chart features 7 of the 11 candies tested as part of this study
Kit Kat, Twix and Snickers lead on almost every driver. They’re the most relevant candies in the study (4.1 each) — people can picture eating them because they already do. They’re also the three most believable (Snickers 4.4, Twix and Kit Kat 4.3, vs. 4.1 average) which makes sense for brands people have trusted for years.
People see them as better too. All three score significantly above average on advantage (Kit Kat and Twix 4.1, Snickers 4.0), and their fans talk about a taste and texture they already trust, packs that show what’s inside and formats that feel like a treat.
People said things like:
And a new shape was enough to make them feel different. It’s easy to assume the bolder ideas would be the most distinctive but Oreo, Snickers and Kit Kat score highest (4.0 each), well ahead of Jolly Rancher Trickies and Sour Patch Kids Glow Ups (3.7 each).
Turning a candy people know into a pumpkin or a ghost changed how people saw it at least as much as freeze-drying it or making it glow.
Jolly Rancher Gummies Trickies got the balance right. It won “most surprising” (23%), took the most first-choice votes of any non-chocolate candy (19%) and matched Snickers and Oreo on advantage (3.9). It adds a surprise without asking people to take a chance on the taste because every flavor is one they already know.
People said things like:
Sour Patch Kids Glow Ups Ghosts is the most fun, unique and spooky candy in the test, which makes it a good fit for Halloween parties and social media. Its fans love the glow and many of the people who ranked it last said they just don’t like sour candy — so its biggest opportunity is with the Sour Patch Kids fans who already buy it.
People said things like:
Skittles Pop’d Creepy Crunch owns texture (29%, ahead of Twix, Oreo, Jolly Rancher and Häppy Candy) and Mars’ own research says 71% of adults want texture in their treats. Freeze-dried candy is still new to many people so it splits opinion: 17% rank it first while 27% rank it last.
People said things like:
Häppy Candy Halloween Pack shows how much work a newer brand has to do at Halloween. Its low-sugar promise landed with the people who picked it but only 17% describe it as “better for you,” about the same as the glowing Sour Patch Kids (16%).
People said things like:
This Halloween, shoppers reward the brands that give their favorites a fun seasonal twist, while the bolder ideas won plenty of attention and a loyal set of fans.
If you’re planning next year’s seasonal lineup, start with what people already love and test your boldest ideas against it before they hit the shelf.
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