Less boo for your buck: For the second Halloween in a row, US candy inflation hits double digits

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
AP Business Writer

For the second year in a row, U.S. shoppers are seeing double-digit inflation in the candy aisle. Candy and gum prices are up an average of 13% in October. That’s on top of a 14% increase in candy and gum prices in October 2022. Weather is the main culprit. Cocoa prices are trading at 44-year highs after heavy rains in West Africa caused limited production in the season that began last fall. Now, El Nino conditions are making the region drier and are likely to linger well into the spring. Meanwhile, global sugar prices are at 12-year highs.