Are you being deceived by your behavior? Some Halloween candy multipacks have shrunk in size, but not in price
Here’s a scary fact: You may have to pay more for your chocolate treats this Halloween due to the recent rise in cocoa prices.
And even if you’re not swayed by higher prices, you may still have to pay more due to shrink inflation, a strategy where companies quietly reduce a product’s weight, but not the price.
After scouring online ads for Halloween candy from October 2024, CBC News learned that two major candy makers, Mars Inc. and Hershey Co., have reduced the weight of many Halloween chocolate bar variety packs this year — by about 17 percent.
It may be difficult for shoppers to spot the changes, as this year’s variety packs contain the same number of candy bars as 2024.
Both the US-based companies said their products may change due to changing customer preferences. Nor were specific examples given.
Consumers and advocates are demanding greater transparency around the practice of shrink-wrapping packaging rather than raising prices, known as ‘shrink inflation’. Other countries require companies to display weight changes on product labels.
In other cases of shrink inflation, companies have stated that they have reduced the weight of the product. offset high production costs,
“Companies are always looking for tips and ways to maintain their profitability, while not necessarily changing or increasing the final price the consumer sees,” said Jordan LeBel, a food marketing professor at Concordia University in Montreal.
but as canadian Struggle with rising grocery pricesThere is increasing demand for food producers to be more forthcoming about item size reductions.
“It’s not really transparent,” said Sylvie de Bellefeuille, a lawyer at the consumer advocacy group Option Consumatores. “At least knowing that it (happened) we can make better informed decisions.”
Chocolate prices increased
Cocoa prices have more than doubled in the last few years, According to the Associated Press,
Labelle says West Africa faces extreme weather conditions Main global supplier of cocoaGave birth to a bad harvest.
He says many cocoa farms are small operations, so they face challenges growing.
“Sometimes those farmers don’t have the financial or economic strength to start over or replant, for example, and that impacts supply,” he said.
Prices of confectionery items – including chocolates – According to Statistics Canada, there was a 10 per cent increase in the last year.
Still, Halloween ads posted online October 2024 And 2025 No Frills in Toronto offered the same price – $8.99 – for a Mars “Fun Size” box of 65 mini-candy bars.
But if you examine the box closely, there is a significant difference: the 2024 box weighs 782 grams, while the current box weighs only 672 grams – a 14 percent reduction.
After scouring 2024 online ads for other Mars “Fun Size” packs, CBC News found several instances where the product had decreased by weight this year — including a 16.8 per cent reduction in weight for a 25-candy bar pack.
Mars did not directly answer questions about why it reduced the weight of its products.
“Our focus is on continuing to provide great value and variety to Canadians while meeting evolving consumer preferences and providing affordable options,” spokeswoman Tamar Nersesian said in an email.
He added that “offers may change from time to time.”
By analyzing ads posted by No Frills in North Bay, Ontario, in 2024 And in 2025 For Hershey’s Halloween 50 mini-candy bar packs, CBC News found that the weight of the product was reduced by 6.2 percent. However, the price did not go down.
CBC also found that Hershey’s 100 mini-candy bar packs had also declined by 3.8 percent.
In an email to CBC News, Hershey spokesperson Todd Scott said the business adjusts its candy assortment mix from time to time to suit consumer preferences, and those changes “may have an impact on weight.”
What can be done about contraction inflation?
many countries including France And brazilManufacturers or supermarkets are required to alert buyers when products shrink by weight or volume.
consumer advocate De Bellefeuille suggests that the Canadian government should require food producers to notify buyers on product packaging whenever such a change is made.
“If they want to sell it at the same price but at a lower price, then at least announce it for a certain period so that people know,” he said.
But LeBel says monitoring such a requirement can be complicated.
“How will you police this?” He said. “What will be the penalties for people who don’t respect those new guidelines or regulations?”
last year, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada told CBC News the funding was multiple research projects In retail practices, including shrinking inflation, that are harmful to Canadians.
CBC News requested an update on Wednesday, but ISED did not respond in time for publication of this story.
