The #1 Most Popular Easter Candy Is a Peanut Butter Fave, New Data Reveals
The Easter holiday ushers in spring each year with several fun and festive traditions, including dyeing eggs with pastel colors, family gatherings, egg hunts, decadent feasts, and of course, candy.
For those who observe the holiday and the Lent period that precedes it, packing Easter baskets with seasonal confections and consuming gratuitous amounts of candy after weeks of fasting and abstinence can be a much-deserved treat. The truth is in the data: the National Confectioners Association (NCA) found that 91% of Americans planned to share confectionery treats with family, friends, and others during the 2022 Easter season.
This year, one type of candy is expected to make more appearances than any other on Easter tables and in Easter baskets: Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs.
Grocery delivery company Instacart recently looked into its own purchase data and ranked seasonal candies that saw at least a 50% jump in sales in the two week period ending on Easter 2022, compared to the previous two-week period. Instacart then compiled a list of the top 10 seasonal candies, and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs took the crown as the most popular in 2022.
The top ranking for Reese's is especially notable considering that it took second place, coming up behind Cadbury Creme Eggs, when Instacart looked into its data from 2021. This year, Cadbury Creme Eggs were relegated to fifth place on the Instacart ranking, a shocking fall from grace for the former first place candy. Kinder Joy Chocolate Candy Eggs, which feature a surprise toy inside, came in second place in this year's ranking, while Starburst Easter Jellybeans and Lindt Hollow Milk Chocolate Bunnies came in third and fourth place, respectively.
Chocolate in general is likely to be a popular option during this year's Easter festivities, seeing as seven of the candies on the top 10 list contain it in some shape or form. Instacart also conducted a survey and found that out of the shoppers who plan to buy Easter candy this year, 64% will be buying chocolate eggs, and 61% will be buying chocolate bunnies.
However, this doesn't mean that consumers have forgotten about their favorite non-chocolate confections. Of the shoppers planning to buy Easter candy this year, 51% plan to pick up jelly beans and 42% plan to buy the iconic Peeps Marshmallow Chicks.
Wondering what Americans will likely eat for Easter dinner, too? Instacart said that ham was the most popular main course on the platform in terms of order numbers last year, with orders jumping by 254% in the week leading up to the holiday. Orders also spiked considerably options like rack of lamb, dinner rolls, brisket, and canned green beans, Instacart said.
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