Heads up, New Jersey! Your little goblin may be getting bags of pennies from your neighbors when they trick or treat this Oct. 31.

Hershey, the big candy maker, issued a warning this week that said a possible candy shortage may affect your Halloween pickings. The big concern is the shortage of raw ingredients, which will cause a major candy capacity problem.

The shortage is a result of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine where restrictions have been made on Russian gas and oil imports, which are specifically hurting the German import of supplies that aren’t going to make it to Pennsylvania and the world’s fifth largest candy maker.

According to an article in the Washington Post, candy has seen an 11% gain in share in 2021 with an amazing $37 billion dollars in confectionary sales revenue.

The increase in candy sales across the board coupled with the lack of supplies coming from Europe have put a big stress on shelves now selling candy. Candy makers are at “all hands on deck” mode to keep the shelves stocked three full months before Halloween.

The Halloween scare at Hersey’s and Mars is very real. Not only is there a problem in Europe but here in the states there is a milk shortage that will add to the problems that candy makers are trying to ward off. The milk shortage is a result of one of the Borden Dairies' production facilities permanently closing its doors in Chicago. Borden Dairies has one of the country’s largest milk production plants. This closing in Chicago will affect mostly Illinois and Wisconsin retailers but those retailers are spreading out to get dairy deliveries outside their states to keep up the demand which will put more of a strain on the national market.

All in all, we have three months to see how this shakes out. Hopefully, it will be a Happy Halloween with lots of candy for your little trick-or-treaters and you, too!

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.

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