FOR the second year in a row, US shoppers are seeing double-digit inflation in the candy aisle. Candy and gum prices are up an average of 13 percent this month compared to last October, more than double the 6 percent increase in all grocery prices, according to Datasembly, a retail price tracker. That's on top of a 14 percent increase in candy and gum prices in October 2022.

'The price of candy has gotten to be outrageous,' said Jessica Weathers, a small business owner in Shiloh, Illinois. 'It doesn't make sense to me to spend $100 on candy.'