Something interesting is happening to the treat bucket in 2026. Americans are spending more on Halloween than ever — $13.5 billion this year, or about $115 per person — and candy is still the single most popular purchase, with 96% of consumers planning to buy sweets. That's roughly $4.1 billion on candy alone.
So no, the doorbell isn't going quiet, and nobody has swapped the Snickers for celery. But underneath that headline number, the composition of what people hand out is genuinely shifting. The short version: people are still giving kids candy, and a growing slice of them are buying a second, non-candy bowl to sit next to it.
Yes, people are still handing out candy — but who, and how much, is changing
Handing out candy remains the most common way Americans mark the holiday, ahead of costumes and decorations, and baby boomers and Gen X are far more likely to be the ones at the door: 73% of them say they'll pass out candy, compared with just 40% of Gen Z and millennials.
That generational gap matters for what's in the bowl. The shoppers who care most about organic, dye-free, and lower-sugar options skew younger — but they're the least likely group to be standing at the door. Meanwhile the boomers actually distributing treats are largely buying the classics. The result is a treat bag at the end of the night that still looks pretty traditional, even as the shopping carts of the people buying it diverge.
Budget pressure is the other force. Nearly nine in ten shoppers have noticed higher candy prices, and 79% said rising prices pushed them to buy less candy overall, with many keeping total holiday spending under $100. When a household is trimming, the budget candy multipack usually wins over the $12 bag of organic lollipops.
Where the health-conscious shift is actually showing up
This is the part that's real rather than wishful. The clearest signal comes from the manufacturers, who follow the money closely:
- Savory is now a Halloween category. Hershey — the largest US chocolate maker — expanded its trick-or-treat lineup to include popcorn, cheese puffs, and pretzels under SkinnyPop, Pirate's Booty, and Lesser Evil, explicitly chasing health-conscious snackers.
- Sugar-free is compounding. Hershey's Zero Sugar candy, mint, and gum business grew roughly 4.3× in dollar sales between 2020 and 2025 — a smaller base than mainstream chocolate, but a steep curve.
- Better-for-you brands are moving into mass retail. Häppy Candy launched a Halloween variety pack in 2,000 Target stores this year, built around 70% less sugar with no stevia, monk fruit, or sugar alcohols, and free from the top nine allergens.
- Inclusion is driving non-food treats. FARE's Teal Pumpkin Project — a teal pumpkin or printable sign plus a separate bowl of non-food trinkets — has become a mainstream, global practice, and it's the single biggest reason households now buy something other than candy.
A note on "sugar-free" specifically: it's growing fast, but it's a niche. Brands sweetened with sugar alcohols and the 70%-less-sugar entries are a small slice of a $4 billion candy season. If you hand out only sugar-free candy, expect a fair number of kids to trade it away by the next block. Nothing in the data suggests sugar-free has displaced conventional candy — it's sitting alongside it.
The three trends actually shaping 2026
1. Novelty and intensity over plain sweet. Mars's trend report found 71% of consumers want texture in their treats and nearly 60% want "extreme" flavors, which is why you're seeing TWIX Skulls, Skittles POP'D Creepy Crunch, and a DoorDash order list where sour candy and Takis now rank near the top. Kids want a sensory event, not a sweet.
2. Summerween and the long season. Mars found Halloween has stretched into a months-long shopping occasion, with two-thirds of Americans saying they wish they could buy their favorite Halloween candy year-round — 76% among Gen Z. Candy companies are responding with earlier launches and seasonal SKUs that run well before October.
3. Two bowls, one porch. The practical expression of the health shift isn't replacement, it's addition: a candy bowl and a Teal Pumpkin bowl, or a mix of full-size classics plus small better-for-you items for parents who ask. It costs about the same as candy, and unlike leftover sweets, non-food treats keep for next year.
So what should you actually buy?
If you want one honest recommendation rather than a trend report: buy the candy kids will actually be excited about, and add a modest, clearly marked allergy-friendly option. That's the behavior the data supports. The organic and sugar-free buyers are a real and growing segment, but they're still a minority of treat-givers, and most trick-or-treaters are showing up for the classics.
Where the shift is worth acting on: mainstream brands are finally giving you genuine choices — savory snacks, lower-sugar options, dye-free gummies — so if you've been avoiding Halloween entirely because the traditional bowl doesn't match your values, there are now products on the shelf that do. Just don't confuse "growing fast" with "the norm." The norm is still a chocolate bar in a plastic pumpkin.