Easter is the latest holiday to be affected by inflation, as price surges and shortages of necessary raw materials hamper candy producers.
The New York Post conducted a survey of a number of popular Easter candies, and found that the average price of the candies and items found in a typical Easter basket jumped by more than 20%, from $50.46 in the “pre-pandemic spring of 2019” to $61.83.
According to the Post, the price of a 4-pack of Cadbury creme eggs rose from $2.50 to $3.99. A 10-pack of marshmallow Peeps jumped from $3.99 to $4.99. A pound of jelly beans saw the same increase. The price of both a regular Hershey’s and KitKat bar leaped from 99 cents to $1.25. A 6 ounce chocolate Easter bunny jumped from $4.99 to $5.99. The price of M&M’s Easter mix rose from $9.49 a pound to $11. Easter-themed Pez candy rose from $3.99 to $4.90.
Meanwhile, the price of eggs rose from $1.55 a dozen to $2.49, and a Paas Easter Egg kit used to decorate them leapt from $6.99 to $7.99. And the price of a wicker Easter basket rose from $8 to $9.
Candy producers and shops are also feeling the pinch from the price increases and from supply shortages. Brand manager Caitlin Servian told the Post that parent company Just Born will produce 2 billion Peeps this year, but transportation, logistics, and labor issues are making it harder to push those 2 billion Peeps to market. “All candy companies are facing similar supply chain issues, labor shortages, driver shortages and long lead times on packaging and ingredients,” she said.
Mitch Cohen of Economy Candy, a candy shop on the Lower East Side of Manahattan, told the Post that he has been facing rising costs for all products since 2019, and he is going to be short on candy for Easter. “Sadly our order of Peeps did not arrive this year and we received only a limited number of chocolate bunnies,” Cohen said. “We’ll be sold out before Easter.” Jacques Torres, a Brooklyn-based luxury chocolatier, told the Post that he spent $23,000 on a packaging shipment from Indonesia, whereas the same shipment cost just $9,000 in 2020. Torres is famous for creating giant chocolate Easter bunnies. He told the Post the 2.5-foot tall, 6-pound rabbits would cost $130, a significant price hike from previous years, when the confections sold for around $90. But even at those prices, Torres said the company was “taking a hit.” “We can’t pass along the entire added costs to consumers,” he said.
Inflation soared to record highs in February. Headlined by skyrocketing food and energy consts, the Consumer Price Index soared to 7.9% annually between February 2021 and February 2022, a 40-year record high. The Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale inflation, saw a 10% year-over-year inflation rate in the same time period, also a record high.
Easter is just the latest holiday to be impacted by surging inflation. In November, the American Farm Bureau Federation reported that Thanksgiving in 2021 would cost 14% more than the previous year, as The Daily Wire reported. A New York Times report from the same time said that “Thanksgiving 2021 could be the most expensive meal in the history of the holiday.” The Daily Wire reported that supply chain bottlenecks were expected to cause a shortage of Christmas trees, and holiday shoppers were reportedly expected to shop more at thrift stores to combat inflation and the supply chain crisis.
