Here’s the Top-Selling Christmas Candy in Each State
With Halloween nearly a month behind us and Easter not happening until an entirely different year, purchasing candy might feel like the last thing on your mind. But it’s easy to overlook just how big of a role candy plays during the Christmas season—candy canes, chocolate Santas, even Hanukkah gelt! According to the National Confectionary Association, consumers will spend $1.93 billion during the eight weeks leading up to Christmas this year alone. Stockings gotta get filled with something!
So what is all that money buying? To find out, online bulk candy retailer CandyStore.com “took a great big survey” of over 50,000 of its customers and “also checked in with our friendly major candy manufacturers and distributors to be sure our survey corresponded with their seasonal observations.” From there, the brand broke all the data down to determine the top seasonal candy sales in each of the 50 states (and DC).
Source: CandyStore.com
As should be expected, candy canes were an extremely popular performer. The peppermint candy that doubles as an easy tree decoration was the top holiday candy in seven states: Delaware, Georgia, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington. However, candy canes were not the confection that topped the most states. In pure number of states, two name brand candies both finished ahead of the traditional but somewhat boring candy cane: M&M’s and Pez captured eight states each. The former took the top spot in Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming, while the latter finished first in Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. Though both have a season-less appeal beyond Christmas, Pez especially makes for a great stocking stuffer.
Other candies that found their way to the top of different states were peppermint bark (California, Kansas, Nevada and West Virginia), Skittles (Florida, Massachusetts, Montana and New York), Starbursts (Arkansas, Hawaii, Oklahoma and Missouri), Hershey Kisses (Alaska, Colorado and Nebraska), Jolly Ranchers (Illinois, Minnesota and the District of Columbia), Reese’s Minis (New Jersey, Oregon and South Dakota), reindeer corn (Alabama, Michigan and Florida) and Snickers (Indiana and Mississippi). Meanwhile, Reese’s Pieces were top only in Maryland. And in possibly the saddest result of them all, chocolate Santas were only the best seller in North Dakota. So much for the classics!
If you want to dig a bit deeper into CandyStore.com’s data, they list the top three best sellers in all 50 states in a sortable table on their website. Consider it a chance to marvel at how nearly half the states don’t even have candy canes in their top three!