Sweet! Here’s Tennessee's Favorite Halloween Candy

NASHVILLE, TN — With Halloween less than two weeks away, it begs the question: What is the favorite Halloween candies for Tennessee's ghosts and goblins? Is this a state of chocolate lovers — think Hershey bar, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or Butterfinger — or do you (gasp!) prefer non-chocolate treats like Skittles, Lifesavers or candy corn?

It’s a big deal for candy-makers and businesses leading up to the holiday. On a typical week Americans spend $300 million on candy, but experts say U.S. candy sales should hit $2.5 billion for Halloween 2016.

Two recent surveys of Tennessee tastes disagree on what the top candy is in the state, but have one thing in common: an surprising aversion to chocolate.

CandyStore.com, an online candy wholesaler, tracked eight years of its sales data to determine the best-selling Halloween candy by state, in pounds sold. That list says that Tennessee shoppers buy Tootsie Pops more than any other candy, followed by salt water taffy and Skittles.

»What is your favorite candy, Tennessee? Tell us in comments.

The Influenster website surveyed over 40,000 readers to determine which Halloween candies are favorites in each state. They found the candy with the highest total number of votes was Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Along with Kit Kat and Butterfinger, the trio were voted top treats in every state.

According to Influenster’s readers, Tennessee's favorite is candy corn.

For some folks, candy corn is the quintessential Halloween treat, while others use it as a decorating prop. Comedian Lewis Black has a whole rant about candy corn, which he describes as “which is neither candy, nor corn," and suggests all candy corn in existence was made in 1914 and recycled annually.

Across the U.S., chocolate is the most popular candy among all age groups, but was most popular among those ages 45 to 60 who preferred it over other candies by 78 percent, according to a 2015 Nielsen survey says the 24/7 Wall Street site. Candy corn was a distant second in preference, receiving about 12 percent of the vote, even though 52 percent of people say they have to have candy corn on Halloween.

The CandyStore website published an interactive map showing the top-selling candy in all 50 states.

»Patch file photo