Pastel candy aisles fill up as Easter approaches, with basket stuffers and egg-hunt staples moving back to front-of-store displays across the country. Candy remains one of the most common Easter purchases in the United States, so retailers give it prominent space each spring. As households prepare for baskets, family visits and holiday meals, the candy aisle returns to the center of the season.
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Candy is a staple of Easter shopping, with 92% of Americans who celebrate the holiday planning to include candy in their grocery list. Much of that demand still runs through the basket, where familiar items such as chocolate eggs, bunnies, jelly beans and marshmallows remain a key part of household Easter preparations.
Easter baskets keep classics popular
A survey from the National Confectioners Association found that 89% of people who make Easter baskets plan to include chocolate and candy, with chocolate eggs and bunnies ranking first, followed by jelly beans, candy-coated eggs and marshmallow candy. These candies return each year because they fit the holiday’s most familiar home rituals.
The rest of the Easter routine helps sustain that demand. The National Retail Federation says 54% of families with children planned an Easter egg hunt at home in 2025, while 58% said they would cook a holiday meal and 55% planned to visit friends and family. In that setting, candy is not a minor extra; it remains part of how households build the day.
Those family routines also give the Easter basket practical weight beyond simple decoration. “Every year, we set up an Easter egg hunt for my kids. We learned early on to count how many eggs we actually hid, and as we got smarter and more experienced, we started to remember where we actually put them or at least a general idea,” Michelle Price of Honest and Truly says. “Gone are the days when we find eggs month after the fact. That’s especially important when they have chocolate in them because we do not want any animals or pets to find them and suffer from that,” she adds.
Chocolate and sweets drive spring sales
Circana’s latest spring holiday report breaks down how strong candy sales are. During the week of April 13-20, 2025, chocolate candy posted a $214 million week-over-week dollar lift, the biggest gain among Easter-related categories, while nonchocolate candy added another $150 million during the same period.
The sales lift points to the same outcome each spring. Chocolate remains the leading Easter item, while nonchocolate candy also generates enough volume to keep the aisle important to holiday spending.
New products, classic favorites
Candy companies take advantage of Easter to introduce fresh flavors and new formats, but the seasonal aisle remains built around the products shoppers already expect to see. They are also offering more variety in pack sizes and portion options for Easter, and about one-third of consumers, especially Gen Z and millennials, say they are very interested in exact re-releases of nostalgic or retro candy.
Hershey’s 2026 Easter lineup follows the same formula, adding Jolly Rancher Gummies Fruity Mix while bringing back staples such as Cadbury Mini Creme Egg, Cadbury Mini Caramel Egg and Reese’s Peanut Butter Mini Eggs Unwrapped. Peeps is taking a similar approach for 2026 by introducing Pop-Tarts Frosted Strawberry Marshmallow Chicks nationwide and Chili Lime Mango Marshmallow Chicks at Kroger, while keeping its classic Marshmallow Chicks and Bunnies in the lineup.
Some Easter favorites maintain a loyal following long after the holiday ends. “Cadbury Mini Eggs are my absolute favorite candy of all time. As soon as they hit the shelves, I buy a bag every time I see one at the store so I can stock up for the whole year. I hide them from my family so I don’t have to share,” as Heidi Bruaw of Real Life of Lulu puts it.
Nostalgia also keeps certain Easter candies in regular rotation, as Casey Rooney of Get On My Plate states, “Every year, I need to get one big Cadbury Creme Egg! I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or just the fact that I know there is only one month out of the year I can get one. Either way, that egg signals the start of the Easter and spring season for me.”
Retailers build Easter candy aisles early
Stores begin setting Easter candy aisles well before the holiday because Easter remains a major spring shopping occasion. The NRF said consumers were expected to spend $23.6 billion on Easter in 2025, with projected candy spending reaching $3.3 billion.
Candy’s place in the broader market also gives stores a reason to set those displays early. NCA said Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween and the winter holidays accounted for 63% of all confectionery sales in 2025, while total U.S. confectionery sales reached a record $55 billion that year. With seasonal buying driving so much of the category, stores have a strong reason to build Easter candy aisles early and keep them prominent through the season.
Easter candy favorites return to baskets
Easter candy returns for a simple reason: the holiday still sends millions of households to the same part of the store for the same basic purchase. As the spring holiday gets closer, the wrappers may change and new flavors may join the aisle, but national sales and shopper data continue to point to chocolate eggs, bunnies, jelly beans and marshmallow candy as the candies most likely to drive Easter purchases again this year.
Jennifer Allen is a retired professional chef and long-time writer. Her work appears in dozens of publications, including MSN, Yahoo, The Washington Post and The Seattle Times. These days, she’s busy in the kitchen developing recipes and traveling the world, and you can find all her best creations at Cook What You Love.