Easter is coming up this weekend, and if you need to pick up some candy for an Easter basket or holiday party, it might be helpful to know what sweets people really want from the Easter bunny. This year, it looks like peanut butter treats will be a hit.
A list of the most popular Easter candies on Instacart published by Food & Wine found that Reese’s peanut butter candies landed in both of the top spots. Here’s the full list:
1. Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs
2. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
3. Cadbury Chocolate Mini Eggs
4. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate
5. Cadbury Creme Egg
6. Sour Patch Kids
7. Lindt Milk Chocolate Bunny
8. Starburst Jelly Beans
9. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Candy Eggs
10. Kinder Chocolate Candy Egg With Toy Inside
Although Peeps – marshmallow candies that are particularly associated with Easter – fill shelves around this time of year, they didn’t land on the list. However, Food & Wine said they do remain popular in some cities, including Boston, Mass., and Philadelphia Pa. In Boston, people put them in their carts 150% more than the national average.
“Exploring the map of candy preferences by city is such a compelling way to see how tastes vary across the country during springtime holidays,” Alex Orellana, Instacart’s trends analyst, told the outlet. “It’s fascinating to see how certain candies, even if not the most popular nationally, can truly shine in specific regions.”
She said that local favorites can provide a glimpse into how Easter traditions differ from city to city. Other examples are the love for Whoppers’ Malted Milk Balls in Phoenix, Ariz., New Yorkers’ preference for Cadbury Milk Chocolate Bars and Cadbury Creme Eggs cravings in Houston, Texas and Portland, Ore.
According to new research from WalletHub, Americans are expected to spend $3.3 billion on Easter candy. Those really seeking to impress could shell out $49,000 for the world’s most expensive chocolate Easter bunny – but most people would probably be happy with more reasonably priced chocolate. If they were to eat that bunny, or any of the 90 million chocolate bunnies sold in the U.S. each year for Easter, 77% would eat the chocolate bunnies’ ears first.
Around half of parents in the U.S. are planning to make Easter baskets for their kids, and 89% of those Easter baskets will include chocolate or candy. When it comes to baskets, the most popular items included are chocolate eggs/bunnies 29%, jelly beans 25% and Peeps 14%. Overall, WalletHub said 16 billion jellybeans are consumed each year for Easter (enough to circle the globe three times), as well as 1.5 billion Peeps. Some of those are eaten by the 80% of parents who steal from their kids’ Easter candy stash.