Easter candy prices surge again, leaving buyers with less
Easter candy prices surge again, leaving buyers with less
Marcia Greenwood, USA TODAY NETWORKFri, April 3, 2026 at 10:05 PM UTC
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If Easter candy is on your grocery list, expect to pay more this year — again — according to an analysis by InvestorsObserver, which tracks stock market and financial trends.
How much has the cost of Easter candy risen since 2020?
Since 2020, shoppers have boosted their Easter candy budgets by about 15%, according to the National Retail Federation, but InvestorsObserver found that prices for popular Easter candy items have jumped 67% during that period.
So, a family spending the same $93 on Easter candy today walks away with 40% less than six years ago.
Put another way, to buy the same volume of candy (by weight) as in 2020, a household would need to increase spending from about $93 to approximately $155 in 2026 — a $62 increase for identical product volume. Sticking to the $93 budget results in 101 fewer ounces of candy, the data show.
In case you missed it: This is why Easter baskets are more expensive this year
The price of Hershey's bars has doubled
Easter candy prices are up again for 2026.
One of the more striking increases cited in the study was the price of a package of six 1.55-ounce Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars rising from $3.99 in 2020 to $8.29 today.
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That near-doubling didn’t happen overnight but rather resulted from price fluctuations over six years. That was the case for other candy prices, too.
“It’s the classic boiling frog scenario that actually shows up in groceries year-round,” said Sam Bourgi, senior analyst at InvestorsObserver. “You don’t jump out of the pot because the water heats up one degree at a time. Each individual increase feels tolerable — annoying, maybe, but not catastrophic. So, you adjust. By the time you realize how hot the water has gotten, you’ve already lost significant purchasing power.”
Shrinkflation is also a factor
Meanwhile, some brands shrank the sizes of items.
Bags of Cadbury Mini Eggs went from 10 ounces to 9 ounces in 2022 with no price change, a hidden cost increase most shoppers never noticed.
Easter candy prices represent larger trend
Easter candy is one small, seasonal category, InvestorsObserver noted. But the same patterns — gradual price increases and shrinkflation — show up in groceries, too.
“The cumulative effect across a year of shopping is significantly larger,” InvestorsObserver said.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Easter candy costs more in 2026 as prices jump 67%
Source: “AOL Money”
