2023-10-25 21:26:24
The increase goes “well beyond food inflation”. The price of candy increased by 21% between October 2022 and October 2023 notes UFC-Que Choisir in a study published this Wednesday. “The range of sweets and other foods overconsumed on the occasion of Halloween (…) has seen its price literally soar in one year, well beyond food inflation,” writes the consumer defense association.
Based on online price records, dated October 18, “in more than 6,500 large food stores offering a drive-thru service”, the UFC-Que Choisir noted that candies have “increased by 21% in one year “. This is much more than the “three other essentials of this evening” which are chips (+ 15%), chocolates (+ 12%) and sodas (+ 9%).
Sugar and starch cost more
The UFC-Que Choisir notably noted “increases well above those in the food section” for the flagship products of the confectioner Haribo, but also for Têtes brûlées from the Frenchman Verquin. The 300g pack of Smurfs, for example, took 26%, that of Crocodiles 22%. The situation is similar, but to a lesser extent nonetheless for the products of its competitors Chupa Chups, Carambar, M&M’s or Kinder.
“Our sugar and starch costs have doubled. It was therefore necessary to make price increases. But we only spent two thirds of these additional costs, the rest being taken from Haribo’s profitability,” Virginie Le Roch, Haribo’s marketing manager, explains to UFC Que-Choisir.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned in early October that sugar prices around the world reached their highest level in 13 years in September. Among the causes, there are concerns about the impact of the El Niño climatic phenomenon on crops in Thailand.
In 2022, the French spent a “record” figure of 112 million euros on candy for Halloween.
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