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All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween, began as a Celtic festival where people donned costumes and masks and lit bonfires in an attempt to ward off evil spirits. Over the years, the holiday has changed to be more about dressing up as your favorite character and lighting pumpkins for decorations.
In 2025, Halloween is expected to reach a record $13.1 billion this year in the US (Source: NRF Annual Consumer Survey). Even with increasing tariffs for imported goods in 2025, Halloween still remains a top holiday for spending on candy, costumes, and decorations.
What about the pumpkins? Back in the days of the Celts, turnips and potatoes were carved with faces to light the way to peoples’ homes for the good spirits to find them. It wasn’t until Irish immigrants arrived in America and discovered the pumpkin, which is native to America, that pumpkins carved as jack-o’-lanterns became the norm.
Most people shop for Halloween goodies in early October, so stores must have items in place before then. Balancing supply with demand requires efficiencies in the supply chain so that stores have the right amount of product in the right location. Too much candy and stores will need to run sales after Halloween, causing them to lose revenues. Too few supplies and stores lose business to competitors.
Candy companies have had to ramp up production over the summer to meet Halloween demands. This means more ingredients have been sourced months early. Once the candy is produced it has to be shipped in temperature-controlled batches to retail outlets across the country and overseas. Shippers need to use a transportation management system (TMS) to make sure deliveries to stores arrive in time.
Typically, historical trends are helpful in forecasting your volume to understand how much product you will need for the upcoming holiday season.
Did you know?
- A 52 foot trailer can fit about 1600 pumpkins (with about 74% space utilization, since not all pumpkins are perfectly shaped).
- A full pallet of candy corn would consist of about 80,000 pieces of candy corn.
- 78 Jack O’ Lantern buckets lined up would total the length of a 52′ trailer.
Let’s take a look at the chocolate supply chain, to see how both time and temperature critical the process for manufacturing your favorite chocolate Halloween candy is.
Manufacturing Process for Chocolate
Once the cocoa beans have been harvested, they’re transported by ship to the continent they will be produced and sold on. The cocoa beans are sifted for foreign materials, roasted in large rotating ovens, and cracked open. Once the shells are blown away, all that’s left are crushed and broken pieces of cocoa beans which are called “nibs.” These bits can be found in specialty chocolate shops and are ready for consumption, though quite bitter.
The cocoa nibs are then ground into a thick paste known as chocolate liquor, though they don’t contain any alcohol. Cocoa butter is either removed at this point to produce cocoa powder or other ingredients like milk and sugar are added to improve the flavor of the end product. The chocolate is rolled through a series of mixers at this point to achieve the smooth, silky texture associated with chocolate, otherwise you’d be left with a grainy texture in your mouth. From here, the chocolate is tempered with heat and put into molds before being packed and prepared for shipment!
Final Mile Transportation for Chocolate Candy
Transporting the final product to the end consumer is a challenge for supply chain professionals. In order for chocolates to retain their shape, they need to be in temperature controlled areas at all times. This means reefer units and quick load and unload times at every dock. Leaving chocolates idling in the yard can ruin the entire shipment.
Since the supply chain is so long and usually involves international harvesting, the time between initial order to final sale can span months. When Halloween candy hits the shelves, Valentine’s Day chocolate purchase orders are coming from a retailer’s procurement department. The nature of specialized product makes the time constraints even more difficult. If chocolates are even a few days late, they could miss their designated holiday and need to be sold at a reduced price.
No matter where you get your chocolate from, it undoubtedly has a long history of where it came from and how it finally arrived in your hands. It’s important to understand how the supply chain plays a role in getting everyday objects many take for granted to their end destination.