British ColumbiaStatistics Canada data shows confectionery items went up 11.9 per cent in B.C. in the last year. Surges in cocoa prices and increased packaging and shipping costs are driving the price hikeMichelle Gomez · CBC News · Posted: Oct 30, 2025 1:06 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesCindy Verchere’s Halloween candy stash is pictured. The Vancouver resident says she is expecting over 3,000 trick-or-treaters this year, and has spent just under $500 stocking up. (Cindy Vechere)This Halloween, Cindy Verchere is expecting over 3,000 kids to visit her home in Vancouver’s Douglas Park neighborhood, a trick-or-treating hotspot. She has spent just under $500 for this year’s stock, an increase from previous years. “It starts to add up,” she said. “I find things that are on sale, if I can.” According to the 2025 Halloween Treat Cost Report — where the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University looks at candy prices every year before Halloween — prices have increased between 10 and 20 per cent across the country compared to last year. For B.C. specifically, Statistics Canada data shows confectionery items went up 11.9 per cent last year. A few years ago, Verchere reduced the amount of candy she gives trick-or-treaters from two pieces to one. “It just gets to be too much,” Verchere said. “I feel kind of bad for the kids, but it’s just what the reality of it is.” Verchere goes for nut-free options to be more accessible, bu they are often more expensive than candy that contains nuts. Cindy Verchere’s home in Vancouver’s Douglas Park neighborhood is pictured in 2024, ready for trick-or-treaters. (Cindy Vechere)Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says there are several driving factors behind the price increase. A “dramatic” increase in cocoa prices, driven by a series of climate disasters ruining crops in major cocoa-producing countries in West Africa, has hiked chocolate prices in recent years, he said.The price of packaging and shipping candy has also gone up, he added. Charlebois says one way manufacturers are dealing with increasing prices is through shrinkflation — when companies shrink the volume of product instead of increasing the price — particularly for mini chocolate bars and chip bags. “They still want to make sure that they attract customers buying Halloween candy, but at a reasonable price the only way to do that is to reduce the quantity,” Charlebois said.But another takeaway from the report is that Canadians are spending more on Halloween candy, noting generosity has not shrunk, Charlebois said. For Verchere, while Halloween is costly, she says it is worth it and considers herself lucky to be able to afford it. “We’re all in,” she said. And those still hoping to buy Halloween candy may have some last-minute luck.Charlebois says those who are not picky on what types of candy they wish to purchase could find some aggressive bargains on Thursday and Friday. He also recommends shoppers go to drugstores or dollar stores where candy prices may be lower than at grocery stores. ABOUT THE AUTHORMichelle Gomez is a writer and reporter at CBC Vancouver. You can contact her at michelle.gomez@cbc.ca.
Halloween candy prices in B.C. have increased more than 10 per cent since last year
