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Sweet Talk

Easter candy, it turns out, is a bigger deal to some people than attending church for the annual holiday, and some people even buy more candy for Easter than they buy for Halloween — just a couple facts about Americans and their Easter candy habits that may surprise you. Read on for more eye-openers about our annual spring sugar fest.


Related: This Is the Best Easter Candy to Fill Your Basket With This Year

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Candy vs. Church: Candy Wins

Easter is a religious holiday that dates back centuries with little (okay, nothing) to do with candy, but a survey by Statista revealed that giving baskets of candy for the holiday is more of a tradition than attending church. About 60% of survey participants said they give Easter baskets, while 51% typically attend church.


Related: 11 Ideas for Easter Family Fun

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We Spend Billions on Easter Candy Each Year

Given our apparent love for Easter candy, it shouldn't really be any surprise that, as a country, we typically drop a small fortune on the tradition. Americans are expected to spend $21.6 billion on Easter this year, according to the National Retail Federation, up significantly from the $18.1 billion it expected in 2019 (though down a bit from the $21.7 billion spent during our pandemic Easter). Of that amount, $3.04 billion will be for candy alone, the NRF estimates.



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Easter Has Been Known to Beat Out Halloween

Halloween is the logical top contender for sheer volume of candy sales, but Easter has been known to push its way into the No. 1 slot. The $3.04 billion in expected 2021 Easter candy sales is significantly bigger than the $2.4 billion it was projected we'd spend on Halloween candy in 2020.


Related: 12 Easy Ways to Decorate for Easter on the Cheap

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Brand Matters

Even for chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies, brand matters. Thirty percent of respondents in the Statista survey said they pay attention to the brand when making their chocolate bunny and egg selections — and there are some brands we can recite from Easter experience: Peeps, Cadbury, Lindt …


Related: 25 Candymakers With Treats Almost Too Pretty to Eat

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Where Does All That Candy Really Come From, Anyway?

There's a small — very small — percentage of people who believe Easter candy is melted down or rewrapped Christmas candy: 4% of survey respondents, according to Statista.


Related: 20 Easter Recipes From Around the World

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How Many Chocolate Bunnies Is Enough?

How many chocolate bunnies would you guess are made each year to satisfy Easter candy habits? Five million? Ten million? Not even close. A staggering 91 million chocolate bunnies are made annually, according to WalletHub.


Related: 18 Cheap Recipes That Celebrate Chocolate

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Speaking of Chocolate Bunnies

About 76% of Americans believe the ears of the chocolate bunny should be eaten first, according to the online candy store Sweet Services. Only 4% of Americans say the feet get eaten first.


Related: We Tried 15 Kinds of Chocolate and These Are the Best

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The Red Jelly Bean Wins

On average, kids prefer the red jelly bean to all others — which alone doesn't reveal much, because red jelly beans come in more than one flavor. Candy maker Jelly Belly, for instance, offers red jelly beans in sizzling cinnamon flavor, very cherry flavor, and red apple flavor.


Related: Favorite Foods of 21 U.S. Presidents

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About Those Jelly Beans …

Since becoming associated with Easter in the 1930s, jelly beans have become a small but powerful force: close to 16 billion are eaten each year during the holiday. Which, if you had the time and the energy, could be lined up and would circle the globe nearly three times over.


Related: The Fun, Secret History Behind Jelly Beans and Other Sweets

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One at a Time Please

There are also some very specific preferences about the best ways to eat jelly beans (at least among kids). About 70% of kids 6 to 11 prefer eating jelly beans one at a time, while 23% say they pop several in their mouth at once.


Related: 25 Candy Stores That Will Make You Feel Like a Kid Again

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More Jelly Bean Facts to Ponder

About 30% of boys are more apt to eat a handful of jelly beans compared with 20% of girls, according to Sweet Services.


Related: How to Make Classic Childhood Candies

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How Big Is Big Enough?

The largest chocolate Easter bunny ever made was 9,360 pounds. Separately, the most expensive Easter bunny rang in at $49,000 (and a whopping 548,000 calories). This bunny, which weighed 11 pounds, was made with cocoa from Tanzania and two (inedible) solitaire diamonds.


Related: 27 Indulgent Ice Cream Sundaes Across America

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Not to Be Outdone

Easter isn't just about jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. Each year between 1.4 billion and 1.5 billion marshmallow Peeps are eaten of up to 24 flavors of Peeps (though the Just Born brand ramped down production during the coronavirus pandemic and now offers nine nationwide) with options that have grown to include chocolate caramel, cotton candy, party cake, sour watermelon, and pancakes and syrup. There are even chocolate-covered Peeps. Unlike the five flavors introduced in 2019, this year is simply seeing the return of that year's Froot Loops, Hot Tamales fierce cinnamon, root beer float, and chocolate pudding flavors. Look at Target for raspberry flavored chicks in crème-flavored fudge; Chocolate Caramel Swirl Filled Delights Marshmallow Chicks in chocolate; and giant  bunny pops. Look at Walmart for individually wrapped chicks for egg hunts; and the chocolate pudding flavor.


Related: 15 Ways to Enjoy S'mores, from Basic to Boozy

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We Will Lecture Our Kids About Eating Too Much Candy ...

Sure, the country makes a lot of Easter candy, and we buy a lot, but we will still plan to tell our kids not to eat too much: About 90% or parents say they discuss eating candy in moderation with their kids. 


Related: The 20 Least Unhealthy Junk Foods

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And Then We Will Steal Their Candy

Yes, that's right — we will sit kids down and expound on cavities, dental bills, and hyperactivity, and once they look the other way, we will betray them. A full 81% of parents will steal from their kid's Easter stash, according to WalletHub.


Related: 14 Ways Parents Waste Money on Kids