A treat for Halloween: After a dud year in 2020, manufacturers say candy is already flying off the shelves

After a mild fright in 2020, Halloween is shaping up to be a treat for candy makers this year.

With COVID vaccination numbers rising and new cases falling, more Canadians are stocking up for trick-or-treaters this year, say manufacturers at retailers.

We're selling everything we're making. If we could make more, we would," said Martin Parent, president of the Canadian arm of Mondelez International, which makes perennial favourites like Caramilk, Mr. Big and Wunderbar.

At grocery giant Loblaw Cos., customers have been snapping up bags and boxes of Halloween candy like they're going out of style, according to spokesperson Catherine Thomas.

We're seeing strong early sales - better than last year (when more people bought for at-home consumption due to restrictions) and stronger than pre-pandemic," said Thomas, adding that there's no indication those strong sales are about to stop.

We're expecting that to continue through the end of the month as celebrations and trick-or-treating return to a semblance of normal. Customers appear to be excited about the upcoming holiday, and planning a bit earlier than they used to," said Thomas.

Along with a big boost in sales of the mini-sized candy bars typically bought by the case and handed out at Halloween, Parent says Mondelez is also noticing Canadians seem to be keeping up some of the snacking habits they've picked up during COVID. And that includes strong sales of full-sized bars.

Ahead of Halloween last year, candy manufacturers and retailers fretted that a lack of trick-or-treaters would lead to a slump in candy sales. Turns out we like our treats too much to let a little thing like a global pandemic get in the way.

Instead of buying the mini sizes last year and handing them out at the door, people stayed home and celebrated with their family, and bought the full-sized ones," said Parent.

Last year, provincial health officials recommended against trick-or-treating, to slow COVID's spread. This year, Ontario's medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore gave a tentative thumbs-up, saying trick-or-treating is OK - as long as you don't shout too exuberantly."

Clearly you have to make your presence known to get your treat, and you have to be able to knock as well as ask for the treat. We just ask not with a high volume that could potentially aerosolize. It's an abundance of caution," Moore told reporters Thursday.

A consumer survey released recently by market research firm Numerator found that two-thirds of Canadians say their Halloween budget will be the same as usual. Fifteen per cent expect to spend more than usual, while just under 20 per cent say their Halloween budget will be lower than usual.

This year, mini-bar sales have bounced back along with optimism about trick or treating, but the sales of full-sized bars haven't dropped to compensate, Parent said.

We started planning in January and February. And based on what we were seeing with vaccination rates, we thought we'd see an increase of 30 to 50 per cent in the mini sales, and that's what we're seeing," Parent added.

At candy giant Hershey Co., they're seeing a similar pattern, said company spokesperson Allison Kleinfelter.

Last year, said Kleinfelter, consumers did more baking, decorating and celebrating at home than usual in the weeks leading up to Halloween, more than compensating for a drop in trick-or-treating sales.

Trick-or-treating was impacted last year. However, Halloween candy sales were our highest to date," said Kleinfelter.

This year, some of those new ways of celebrating are sticking around, she added.

Last year, more consumers participated in the season in a variety of ways and many are continuing with new rituals (baking, movie nights, decorating)," Kleinfelter said.

Josh Rubin is a Toronto-based business reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @starbeer