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If you plan to hand out chocolate this Halloween, you might be in for more trick than treat. The price of cocoa remains high after spiking last yeara trend that has shoppers turning away from a perennial favorite sweet treat, even on a holiday that revolves around candy. Compared with the Halloween season last year, chocolate costs more this year, and consumers are buying less of it. Overall, candy prices have risen a whopping 78% since 2020, according to an analysis from consumer finance site FinanceBuzz, which tracked candy prices across four major retailers. A 100-piece bulk bag of Halloween candy costs an average of $16.39 in 2025, up from $9.19 in 2020 and $14.06 just one year ago. Those yearly price surges have regularly outpaced inflation, which is already putting shoppers in a pinch. In its earnings call Thursday, Hershey noted holiday sales this Halloween were disappointing and that it planned to study pricing, pack types, and its broader candy lineup through the lens of the consumer in light of underwhelming sales. The companywhich owns candy brands like Reeses, Kit Kat, and Yorkraised prices over the summer to cope with the rising cost of cocoa. Because cocoa is a seasonal commodity, companies that rely on it lock in their prices in advance, leading to a lag time between the key ingredients price fluctuations and what consumers wind up paying in-store for a packaged product. Sweet tooth alternatives Price hikes have driven consumers away from chocolate, but theyve turned toward sugar-forward candies as an alternative. In the run-up to Halloween, U.S. chocolate candy sales had already dipped by 8% compared with 2024, and thats not including the sweets-buying rush closer to the Friday holiday this year, when the majority of Halloween candy is sold. While chocolate demand softens, non-chocolate options like gummy and hard candies are getting more popular with younger consumers, according to a seasonal report from NielsenIQ. Shoppers buying Halloween candy early broadly turned toward non-chocolate options, with sales up 4.5% this year through September, according to market research group Circana. In the same period, chocolate candy sales dipped by 13.7%. Cocoa in crisis Chocolate is more expensive now due to a complex interplay of factors, but climate-caused excessive heat and intense rains in particular have taken their toll in cocoas key regions, sending the commoditys price sky high. In the U.S., persistent inflation and Trumps chaotic trade deals have also impacted the price of imports like cocoa, which cant be grown domestically. Last year, the price of cocoa reached historic highs, rising past $10,000 per metric ton. Because the global appetite for chocolate hinges on a single region in Africa, cocoa is uniquely vulnerable to forces outside of farmers controlparticularly extreme weather events that are worsening as the planet warms. The climate crisis is expected to cause accelerating agricultural losses for staple crops like corn and wheat around the globe, and cocoa is no different. Cocoa prices leveled off some in mid-2025, but the substance that makes chocolate chocolate still costs triple what it did before 2023, leaving consumers to eat higher prices or leave the sweets on the shelf. Even if shoppers stick it out with chocolate this Halloween, they might be getting less for more. Candy aisle faves like Mr. Goodbar, Rolo, and Almond Joy have quietly slipped into new packaging that no longer entices buyers with the promise of milk chocolate. That change in verbiage is a hint that major candy companies like Hershey and Nestlé are dropping the cocoa content in some classics with new recipe reformulations that rely less on chocolates star ingredient. If your Halloween candy doesnt taste quite as sweet this year, it might not just be because you paid more.
Category:
E-Commerce
Spot the robins egg blue of a Tiffany box, and you know theres luxury inside. Or the sturdy brown of the UPS truck, and you expect reliable service. Yellow Minions make you smile, and Valentinos vivid Pink PP Collection makes you want to step out and step up. Color is more than decoration. Color is a powerful tool that drives business and creates cultural relevance. The right hues build trust, drive sales, and make brands unforgettable, while the wrong ones can cost you customers and credibility. The launch of Coke Life in a green rather than familiar red can probably contributed to the products uphill battle with consumers. Even tinkering with a color combination as simple as the Gaps white-on-blue logo can face business backlash, as the company found out when it tried to rebrand in 2010, but the company soon returned to the original due to the rebrands unpopularity. Leading brands use color strategically and employ trend forecasting to stay relevant as consumer expectations shift. Heres how to think about color like a leading brand. COLOR SPEAKS DIRECTLY TO THE SUBCONSCIOUS Simply put: Colors drive emotions, and emotions drive purchasing behavior. The brain processes visuals faster than text, so colors trigger subconscious associations that shape perception before other messages make their way in. For consumers connecting with a brand or product, color helps them instantly categorize products and streamlines their decision-making. It happens fastcustomers form judgments about products within the first 90 seconds of interaction, with up to 90% of that assessment based solely on color. In less time than a commercial break, the right color choices can earn consumers trust, evoke their excitement, or tap their aspiration. The wrong choices can turn buyers away just as quickly. This is why certain industries, informed by cultural appetites, gravitate toward specific palettes. In the United States, tech companies and banks often use blues and neutrals to project reliability, because American consumers associate blue with stability and trust. Consumer perceptions of color vary globally, so brands must know their markets. In some cultures, for example, a bride traditionally wears white for a wedding, but in other cultures white signifies mourning. Getting it wrong can confuseor even repelconsumers. THE BUSINESS CASE FOR COLOR Companies that invest in a smart color strategy create lasting visual associations that foster trust and loyalty, which can be deepened even further by using signature colorsthink: iconic Tiffany Blue. Such associations help consumers understand what experience they can expect from the brand and are one of the fastest ways to communicate the brands value and build trust. Color increases brand recognition by 87% and influences up to 85%of product purchasing decisions, according to Pantones proprietary research. In fact, a Rochester Institute of Technology study found that 69% of respondents said theyd forgo a product whose color was unappealing, even if they needed the product. With color so consequential to consumers, it should matter just as meaningfully to brands. When Philips wanted to signify the revolutionary nature of their OneBlade Hybrid Razor to their target demographic of young Italian men, they selected a bold, tangy yellow-green that popped off the shelf and tapped into young mens quest for individuality. The right color strategy enhances engagement, increases brand value, and strengthens market resilience, ensuring your company remains competitive over the long term. COLOR DECISIONS ARE CRITICAL IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Brands that forecast color trends dont just follow the marketthey define the market. This is especially crucial for fashion, technology, and consumer goods, where trends change quickly, and aesthetics and emotional appeal strongly influence buying decisions. Consumers are drawn to brands that are not just on-trend but ahead of the curve. Hitting the right color in one season is valuable, but consistently setting and capitalizing on trends cements a brands leadership. And in an omnichannel world, consumers expect a seamless experience, so brands need to ensure their colors remain consistent across websites, apps, and retail displays. Specially designed Barbie Pink and Minion Yellow, for instance, brought the unique experience to life recognizably and consistently everywhere these fictional characters went. Inconsistent visuals flout customer expectations, weaken brand recognition, confuse consumers, and even signal unprofessionalism or poor quality. Back in the Kodak Instamatic days, factories did not standardize the yellow packaging, with some boxes appearing darker and others lighter. Customers shied away from the darker yellow boxes, thinking they were older and contained older film. COLOR CAN KEEP YOUR BUSINESS IN THE BLACK The right color choices can mean the difference between profitability and missed opportunity. For example, Krafts decision to define and standardize a globally recognizable Heinz 57 Red translated into real results tableside in Turkey. The Heinz 57 Red-focused ad campaign strengthened brand discernmentwith 97% of customers able to visually tell the difference between Heinz and competitors post-campaignand supported both a 24% rise in usage of Heinz ketchup and 73% fewer non-Heinz ketchup refills by street food vendors. [KK1] Color influences perception, drives purchasing behavior, and creates instant recognition, all factors that directly impact a brands bottom line. Consumers make snap judgments based on color, research shows, and those judgments translate into trust, engagement, and sales. Investing in color isnt optional in todays competitive landscape color is key to staying relevant, recognizable, and in the black. Sky Kelley is the president of Pantone.
Category:
E-Commerce
Imagine living in a house with the latest smart home system: lights dim on voice command, your thermostat learns your schedule, your refrigerator orders milk before the carton runs out. Its practical yet delightful. It improves your daily life. Now imagine that same house built on shaky foundations: the electric wiring is aging, and the plumbing is rotting. No matter how advanced your devices are the structure wont support them reliably. Thats the difference between AI and blockchain. AI is the smart tech; blockchain is the well-designed infrastructure that ensures everything works reliably, predictably, and with integrity. Similar to how a home needs both features and structure, our digital economy will demand both AI and blockchain. One amplifies capability, the other ensures resilience. The real promise of blockchain Just as cloud computing once seemed abstract until it powered every app, blockchain quietly is becoming the fabric woven into how money moves, contracts are enforced, and systems operate with one another. For leaders, innovators, and builders, our job is to see past the surface-level headlines and recognize structural shifts. Thats where we are with blockchain. Paying attention now determines whether youll lead the next economyor scramble to adapt after the rules have changed. Two areas in particular highlight how blockchain and AI together can reshape finance: programmable money and transparency in financial records. 1. Programmable money One of the biggest opportunities is programmable money used by AI-driven agents. Programmable money is digital currency with built-in logic. It can move, settle, or trigger actions automatically based on predefined conditions and rules, releasing payment only when goods are delivered, paying employees instantly after clocking out, or compensating an AI agent the moment it completes a task. An AI agent is a bit like a personal assistant. It interprets requests, figures out how best to deliver on them, and improves over time. They can act autonomously to complete tasks and make decisions to meet your requests. These AI agents dont only work during traditional hours, and they dont have an identity according to traditional regulatory frameworks, yet they need reliable ways to be compensated in real time. Blockchain-backed stablecoins are a natural solution. Consider an example of this powerful combination in real estate: An AI agent confirms the accuracy of documents, closes a transaction, and disburses funds. If its a Sunday morning and payment rails like ACH or wires are closed, how does the transfer clear? Stablecoins enable settlement on digital time, not bankers hours. This is already moving from theory to practice. For example, Google just announced an Agents Payments Protocol, which provides a blockchain-based framework for ecommerce transactions conducted by AI agents. Other leading payment companies like PayPal, Mastercard, and American Express also are embracing this technology. This is a clear example of the intersection of AI and blockchain for a pragmatic use case. 2. Financial transparency Underwriting offers another example of the importance of applying blockchain principles to AI. AI is now shaping how risk is assessed, and loans are priced. That creates real concerns about fairness, bias, and explainability. Regulators and consumers alike want to know why a loan was denied and what data drove the decisions, breaking open the black box of financial decision-making. Blockchain offers an answer. It can record AI-driven activity (data inputs, validation steps, approvals, compliance checks), creating a verifiable record across a variety of consumer products like mortgages or credit cards. Instead of a vague application denied, consumers would know the exact reason, like missing income verification or a high debt-to-income ratio. For approvals, the record would highlight the inputs behind the interest ratecredit score, income, loan-to-valueso borrowers know what mattered most. With the same validated data applied across applicants, regulators can verify fairness while consumers gain clarity. Together, AI and blockchain dont just deliver speed. They deliver financial systems that are more transparent to regulators, more understandable to consumers, and ultimately more durable. The long game belongs to blockchain AI is transformative because it amplifies what we already do. Its the smart home app that learns your lighting preferences based on circumstance. Blockchain is different. Its the building department, inspector, and the wiring behind the walls: setting the rules for what can be built, verifying the work, and powering the entire system. For consumers, opaque financial decisionslike sudden credit card fee increases, shifting interest rates, or unexplained loan denialshave long been the norm. The combination of AI and blockchain is poised to change that bringing clarity to the individual and accountability to the system. For leaders and innovators, the blueprint for the future is straightforward: Prepare for an AI future by building a strong blockchain foundation as rapid growth in transaction activity will demand scalable, composable infrastructure Leverage transparent, fair, and accurate design principles so AI decisions can be explained, verified, and defended. Move beyond pilots by embedding blockchain into mission-critical workflows where speed, settlement, and reliability are non-negotiable. The intersection of AI and blockchain is shaping up to be a massive market reset. Those who embrace it now will define what comes next. Michael Tannenbaum is the CEO of Figure.
Category:
E-Commerce
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