For some, the best part of Halloween is all the free candy.  And there is a lot of it.

90 million pounds of chocolate are sold for Halloween — more than twice the amount sold at Valentine’s Day.  Over 20 million pounds of that is just candy corn!  The tri-colored chewy confection was invented in 1898 by the Herman Goelitz Confectionary Company of Fairfield, CA.

According to the National Confectioners Association, more than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces—enough to circle the moon nearly 21 times if laid end-to-end.  They also conducted this amusing survey:

Among adults,

  • Four-in-ten (41%) adults admit that they sneak sweets from their own candy bowl.
  • On Halloween night, the majority (52%) of those providing treats to costumed kiddies will be passing out chocolate, while three‐in‐ten will drop hard candy or lollipops into the sacks.
  • 62% of adults will be handing out candy because “it’s a personal favorite” or it’s a household tradition (55%)
  • 43% of grown-up celebrants cite costumes as one of the most indispensable parts of the holiday.
  • About 26% of households will include full-size candy (chocolate and non-chocolate) in their Halloween activities.
  • 90% of parents admit to sneaking goodies from their kids’ Halloween trick-or-treat bags.
  • Parents favorite treats to sneak from their kids’ trick-or-treat bags are snack-size chocolate bars (70 percent sneak these), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40 percent), caramels (37 percent) and gum (26 percent).
  • Parents least favorite goodie to take from their kids’ trick-or-treat bags is licorice (18 percent).

Among kids,

  • 30% of kids report that they SORT their candy first when returning home with trick-or-treat loot, others:
    • Savor it (20%)
    • Share it (16%)
    • Stash it (14%)
    • Swap it (7%)
  • Kids say they prefer homes that give: anything made with chocolate (68%) followed by lollipops (9%), gummy candy (7%) and bubble gum or chewing gum (7%)
  • More than 93% of children go trick-or-treating each year.
  • Kids tell us that their favorite treats to receive when trick-or-treating are candy and gum. Eighty-four percent of kids said candy and gum are their favorites over other options like baked goods or small toys.