Hershey warns Americans squeezed by gas prices are buying less candy—and Halloween’s final days are ‘really critical’
Source: Fortune ·
Candy sales at convenience stores fell 5% in September, and Hershey’s exec says the company now needs consumers to “show up” in the last days before Halloween.
From the source
Spooky costumes and decorations aren’t the only frightening things this Halloween. For America’s biggest chocolate maker, the scarier sight may be the shoppers who aren’t showing up. On Hershey’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday, executives said candy sales at convenience stores fell 5% in September across the category, and that the slump has continued into October as high gas prices and stubborn inflation squeeze household budgets. Hershey CFO Dave Hulays said consumers are “more cautious on inflation,” pointing to gas prices and interest rates as sources of household strain. “They are making more deliberate choices across channels,” he said, with shoppers shifting more of their spending to mass retailers, e-commerce, and warehouse clubs. Outside of convenience stores, Hulays said, the candy category grew 3.7% in the third quarter, and he framed the weakness as “more of a channel and trip problem, not as much a category issue.” Paying more, buying less Hershey’s results show the…