Spooky treats expanding to include adults, savory snacks

Halloween trend tracking indicates the season is no longer just candy and kids.

Image courtesy of Jenni Spinner

If you follow the confectionery news shared on our microsite Candy Industry (and, in my humble opinion, you should), you likely caught an interesting story on Halloween trends uncovered by Ferrero. The gist: while spooky season is still very much a time for costumed tots and trick-or-treating, grown-ups are getting in on the frightful fun, turning the holiday into “Adultoween.” Let’s take a look:

Of the adults polled, 69% indicate they’re buying seasonal candy, even if they don’t expect trick-or-treaters at their door
A full 40% say Halloween is their favorite holiday out of all the occasions on the calendar
About 67% of grown-ups with kids in their house keep a stash of extra candy “just in case” but are secretly hoarding it to enjoy after the holiday

Courtesy of Clif Bar

If you REALLY want to see adults go bonkers over Halloween candy, check out the Candy Corn Suite, the result of Brach’s partnership with family-friendly resort chain Great Wolf Lodge (as you can see from my pic, I got to stop by). The specially decorated suite (installed at two of the GWL locations) is a literal floor-to-ceiling celebration of the seasonal sweet. The orange, yellow, and white color scheme is in play in the bathroom, on the bedspreads, over the windows, and on the pantry, stocked to the gills with candy corn and Mellocreme pumpkins. Kids are welcome in the accommodations, but it’s adults making the reservation and footing the bill (and maybe, leaving the wee ones home for a grown-ups-only staycation).

Another notable trend, besides adults muscling in on the Halloween territory traditionally occupied by kids, is the rise in non-candy trick-or-treat giveaway goodies. True, there is no shortage of the full-sugar treasures from days of yore (nor a shortage of adults buying it), but as time goes on and the BFY trend grows, more and more space on the seasonal shelves is taken up by lower-sugar candy, organic items, and even savory snacks. Here are a few examples:

Pirate’s Booty and SkinnyPop multi-packs: these festive Hershey-brand snack packs take trick-or-treating from the sweet side to the savory
Hippeas LTO packs: the outer package features spooky ghosts, with a possibly scary number of BFY benefits offered by the chickpea puffs inside
Clif Halloween ZBars: the diminutive bars (specially decorated for the holiday) can be handed to trick-or-treaters, tucked in lunchboxes, or gobbled by parents when kids aren’t looking

Which direction are you going this Halloween? Are you handing out traditional candies, BFY, savory snacks, or—like one house on my block growing up—handfuls of pennies (please say it’s not the last one)? I’d love to know—feel free to share your holiday treat plans, tell me your personal favorite treats, or speak whatever else is on your mind at spinnerj@bnpmedia.com.

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Jenni Spinner is the chief editor of Snack Food and Wholesale with more than 25 years of experience in business-to-business communications. She has written extensively about food production, safety and packaging; pharmaceutical drug development; concrete and masonry construction; and more. She holds a Bachelor’s in Communications from the University of Illinois. Jenni can be reached at spinnerj@bnpmedia.com.