Halloween brings joy for children and teenagers alike. Halloween is the one day of the year where children are encouraged to go door to door to get as much candy as possible. After people are done trick-or-treating, they often gather with friends trading candy, “scoping out” their favorites. Furthermore, each year consists of a variety of candy with one or two types remaining the most popular type.

     When examining candy trends at Halloween, one must first seek out the reason behind giving out candy. Giving out candy has been going on for centuries, beginning in the middle ages. Similar to many modern day holidays, Halloween originally started as a religious holiday. The day before All Saint’s Day, otherwise known as Hallow-mass, represented a time when peasants went around begging for food and prayers for the dead for the next day, as stated by Culinary Art 360. Although Halloween no longer has this same religious purpose, candy is given to, “warn off tricks and vandalism.”

     According to 24/7 Wall St., one of the most popular types of candy is chocolate, and it does not seem ready to leaving the top anytime soon. In 2012, more than $12.6 billion was spent on chocolate alone, a 3.8% increase from 2011. In 2013, 72% of candy sales for Halloween was chocolate, based upon a survey conducted by National Confectioners Association.

     As of Halloween last year, the top five chocolate candies based on overall sales were either manufactured by The Hershey Company or Mars Incorporated, as stated by 24/7 Wall St.Starting with number five from the Hershey Co. was the Kit-Kat, which was created in 1935  and generated $306.51 million in sales. Following with number four from Hershey Co. was Hershey bars themselves which were first introduced in 1900. They made $308.42 million in sales. Number three was produced by Mars Inc. Snickers, being sold since 1930, generated $456.91 million in sales. Falling short of number one, was M&M’s produced by Mars Inc. M&M’s were first introduced in 1928 and made $500.82 million in sales. Reese’s was number one on this list. Reese’s was introduced in 1928 by Hershey Co. This popular candy generated $509.85 million in sales.

     Aside from the majority of popular Halloween candy being chocolate, there are other types of popular candy. According to Ranker, the two most popular and well known non-chocolate candies are Skittles and Starbursts.

Halloween has remained a very popular tradition, revolving around the giving out and receiving of candy. In all, the most popular candy being distributed has varied. But, throughout the years, chocolate has remained the candy choice, producing the most sales.