600 million (600,000,000)

During the week leading up to Halloween, 600 million pounds of candy – valued at approximately $1.9 billion – are sold in the United States according to The Nielsen Company.  Of the different types of candy, chocolate is by far the most popular.

“Halloween is the biggest season for chocolate candy, with nearly 90 million pounds of chocolate candy sold during Halloween week. By comparison, nearly 65 million pounds of chocolate candy is sold during the week leading up to Easter and only 48 million pounds of chocolate candy is sold during Valentine’s week.”

What is truly interesting, however, is that during the week leading up to Halloween the percentage of store brand candy that is sold dips to 5.6% (normally 8.1% throughout the year) as consumers step up to brand names sweets.  Perhaps no one wants to be the house on the block selling the no-name chocolate bar or lollipop.

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