Do You Want Halloween Candy Year-Round? Most People Do

Halloween candy is already here. And we know – yes! – it’s too early. The days are still long, the vibe is not yet appropriately spooky. For some people, though, their Halloween candy, cereals, and other seasonal treats can’t come soon enough. They want them year-round. They want to bask in the ghostly feel of it all, doing the Monster Mash as they throw back their Halloween M&M’s (although be careful, guys, we don’t want any accidents).

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How do we know this? A survey has just confirmed it. Let’s break it down.

Mars Tricks, Treats And Trends Report: More Halloween Candy, Please!

Yesterday, Mars dropped a press release breaking down the results of its 2026 Tricks, Treats and Trends report, the purpose of which was to identify customer opinions on Halloween food and its availability. The biggest discovery was that the traditional image of a grumpy person shaking their fists at supermarket shelves upon the appearance of Halloween candy too early in the year is, apparently, not the norm. According to the survey, which had around 3,000 respondents, two-thirds of Americans wish that Halloween candy was MORE available – ie., that you could buy it all year round.

Amongst Gen Z respondents, that number sat at 76%, indicating that younger adults are more accustomed to Halloween candy being around at non-peak times, and that they’re hungry for more. This also tracks with the rise of “Summerween,” a new-ish trend/understanding about Halloween, which extends the holiday beyond its traditional monthly constraints. “Culture, not the calendar, is defining the seasons and our strategy,” said Tim LeBel, Mars Snacking North America’s Chief Halloween Officer (cool job!) and Chief Customer Officer. “This year’s annual trends report shows that Halloween is becoming America’s longest retail season, marked by Summerween gatherings, early decorating and themed snacking.” 

Spooky Specials

The Mars survey also highlighted which of its brands were most popular at Halloween, and M&M’s was the winner, with every age group surveyed bar millennials saying it was the candy they most associated with the season (millennials, incidentally, named Snickers, but it was only a single percentage point about M&M’s). This is probably music to Mars’ ears, as it brings back its M&M’s Halloween Blend for another year. It’ll also be remounting its Snickers Ghoulish Green bars, and we’ll have a couple of new items to try, including new TWIX Skulls, Snickers Fun-Size Pumpkins, and Skittles POP’d Creepy Crunch.

And soon…they might be around for the whole year. Well, it looks like it’s going that way, at least.