Halloween Is Challenge for Chocolatiers as High Prices Bite (1)

Halloween is shaping up to be a test for the chocolate industry, as high cocoa costs threaten to accelerate a consumer shift toward cheaper and trendier sweets such as sour gummies.

For candy makers, Halloween remains crucial — the holiday made up nearly 18% of annual US candy sales last year, second only to Christmas. But chocolate makers have been passing along costlier input prices to consumers, and that’s leaving an opening for rivals — who have already seen a shift toward non-chocolate treats — to grab more market share.

It’s the latest example of demand destruction as the chocolate ...