DETROIT (WXYZ) — Halloween is almost here, but filling the candy bowl is getting more expensive for families preparing for trick-or-treaters.
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Candy prices are up an average of 15% from last year, according to The Century Foundation, an independent think tank. That increase is hitting shoppers at a time when businesses and consumers are also dealing with higher transportation costs and other economic pressures.
At Janco Distributors on Detroit’s west side, the changing price of candy can be traced across generations.
Owner Leona Lede said her great-grandmother opened the candy store more than a century ago, when a penny could buy plenty of sweets.
“A penny got you all the candy you needed,” Lede said.
Asked what the store’s founders would think about today’s candy prices, Lede had a simple answer.
“They would think they are ridiculous,” she said.
Lede estimates candy prices have increased about 75% since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest increase is especially noticeable ahead of Halloween. The Century Foundation reports candy prices are up an average of 15% compared with last year, according to information cited in the 7 News Detroit report.
Higher transportation costs adding pressure
Dr. Jeff Rightmer, an associate professor of teaching at Wayne State University who specializes in supply chain issues, said higher transportation costs are among the factors affecting prices.
Rightmer said rising diesel prices have increased the cost of moving products, with those expenses ultimately reaching consumers.
“You always had a surcharge on freight to some degree,” Rightmer said. “That surcharge is going up. That gets passed onto the delivery companies, which ultimately gets passed onto the consumer.”
Rightmer said consumers shouldn't necessarily expect immediate relief.
“It will probably eventually shake itself out, but in the near future, probably not,” he said.
Shoppers feel the difference
For customers such as Ava Willis-Long, the higher prices are already noticeable.
“Everything has went up,” Willis-Long said.
Willis-Long was shopping for candy for an upcoming trunk-or-treat event when she stopped at Janco to compare prices with larger retailers.
“What I would usually get for $20, I’m spending $40 for,” Willis-Long said, pointing to chocolates, Twizzlers and gummy candy among the items she buys.
She said she visited Janco to see whether its prices were different from stores such as Meijer or Target.
Lede said Janco has one major advantage when it comes to keeping costs down: The family has owned its building for decades.
“We don’t have any overhead,” Lede said. “I was actually born in this room in 1958, so this building is long paid for.”
The store also has a reminder of just how dramatically candy prices have changed.
Lede still has a Snickers wrapper from the 1990s advertising three candy bars for $1.
“That’s the ’90s. It was three for a dollar,” Lede said. “This is 2026, and it’s $1.69.”
Rightmer said there isn't a single factor behind what consumers are seeing at the register.
“It’s kind of all these things that are working against the consumer,” Rightmer said. “You’re seeing the result of a lot of different policies and economic conditions that have driven this along.”
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