ST. LOUIS – Trick-or-treaters probably don’t know or care, but the price of Halloween candy is no joke! The U.S. Department of Labor says the price of candy is up 13% from last year.

“There’s no doubt that price rises by companies like Hershey, Mondelez, Mars are starting to hit consumers,” Anthony Myers, editor of ConfectionaryNews.com, said.

Myers says Mother Nature is to blame for the rise in candy prices.

“A lot of the cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, West Africa. They’ve had drought; too much rain; too little rain. It’s caused a huge effect on supply,” he said.

“The second-largest sugar supplier in India has banned exports because of monsoon rain,” Keenan, executive vice president and general manager at Advantage Solutions, said.

Keenan says rising sugar and cocoa costs have strained the overall sugar supply.

“If the supply is lower or impacted during the most demanding time, like Halloween, the price will rise,” he said.

Keenan notes cocoa prices traded at a 44-year-high Monday and global sugar prices hit a 12-year-high. He says shoppers have noticed the higher prices and their spending will reflect the impact of the added expense.

“According to our data from our outlook survey, about 41% of grocery shoppers say inflation will alter their candy spending this year,” he said. “A full half of those consumers, that group, they expected to spend the same but know that they will ultimately get less candy in their basket because of high prices. About 30% of that group anticipates spending less and buying less candy.”