Latest / Wicked Radio with Bill Adams / 10-21: Shriekflation! What's The Real Story With These Ridiculous Candy Prices?

Transcript

10-21: Shriekflation! What's The Real Story With These Ridiculous Candy Prices? · Wicked Radio with Bill Adams

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: All right, it's time to tackle the most pressing consumer
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: issue facing Americans right now. Is it cars?
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: No.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Is it housing prices?
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: No.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: It's the frickin' cost of Halloween candy. I know what
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: you're thinking. Bill, there are way more important things to
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: be asking about. There are way more important questions. There
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: are more pressing issues. We're almost at the midterms. Now,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: as a consumer, if anything jumps and skyrockets and shrinks
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: with shrinkflation to the extent that Halloween candy has recently...
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: I think it's a question worth asking because we spend
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: a lot of money on this stuff, first of all.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: But the other more important question I think to ask is,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: what's really causing all this? Because, of course, especially in
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: a tight political season, the political nerds are asking their
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: questions and trying to blame it on you-know-who. What's the
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: real reason? What's the real reason Halloween candy has gotten
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: so expensive these days? I mean, really, truly, what's behind this?
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Here's the other pressing question. What the heck has happened
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: to the size of candy bars? I know they had
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: family size. That's been going on a long time. And
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: as your kids, if you went through this era like
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I did as a dad, you had kids that mapped
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: out the houses for Halloween that actually gave out full-size
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: candy bars and all that other stuff. But the mini versions,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the family-size portions of Halloween candy now have gotten somehow,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know how physically it was possible to actually
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: get even smaller. If you've been to a store recently
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to buy the giant candy bags and you should wait
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: till now to get them, Because you don't want to, like,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: dip into your Halloween candy too early. You've noticed exactly
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. And, I mean, truly, you want
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: a sign of wealth these days? It's the families that
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: actually are giving out full-size candy bars because they cost
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: too much. But something's getting blamed on this. It's a
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: bunch of garbage. So we need to ask the question.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: I told you. This is a consumer's. I don't care
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: whether it's baseballs or T-shirts or sports coats or rope.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: I don't care. If anything has jumped this much in price,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: it's worth asking a question about. because we're getting close
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: to Halloween.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: All right, see?
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: At least it's not politics. Not really, anyway. Thanks for
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: finding me. I appreciate you. Wicked Radio livestream, Monday through Friday,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: 8 a.m. Eastern Time-ish. And then the replay on X
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: and YouTube and Facebook as well. Always livestream on those networks.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: And your audio podcast, your favorite podcast platforms, where we
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: find and I upload the entire episode shortly after the livestream.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Let's get right into it. So much so, they've always
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: covered this. It's always a consumer issue. I mean, back decades,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: even back in my radio days, broadcast radio days, This
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: time of the year, a couple of weeks ago before Halloween, always,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: always they would start with the consumer issue. The high
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: price of candy, and then they started with the thing
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: about why are they so small these days, but never
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: so extreme as these days. This is probably from, I
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: think it was last week, ABC News was covering this.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: They brought it to Good Morning America, and they had
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: their consumer expert on there to talk about this and
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: all the other issues, because it actually does concern... It
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: does affect a lot of people, but this is what
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: they had to say about it.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Until Halloween, and it's not just the costumes getting scary
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: this year. Candy, some of these prices can be frightening too.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: According to RetailMeNot, shoppers are expected to spend an average
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: of $ 159 on Halloween this year. That's up 72% from
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: last year. And if you want to talk trick or treat,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: it's the treats that are the most popular planned purchase.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: But experts say Halloween candy costs have surged in recent
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: years because cocoa, sugar, and corn syrup account for about
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: 65% of the industry's ingredient expenses. And supply problems, extreme weather,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: transit costs have all pushed prices higher. So before you
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: wait until the last minute.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, so there's that. And this is a common issue.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: They're talked about it every single year. A little bit
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: different this time around, though, because... Well, you also know
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: what's coming shortly after Halloween. It is political season, so
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: everything you're going to hear, you're going to have to
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: take with a grain of salt, okay? Now, pay attention
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: to how they're presenting the candy issue and the shrinkflation
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: and the shriekflation, as they're calling it. I stole that title,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: by the way. Through all the different various news outlets.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Listen to see how they're actually, and he said it
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: right there. It's mostly a cocoa issue. It's been a
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: big problem. There are transportation costs. That is a fuel thing, obviously.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: But listen to see how various news outlets kind of
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: like report this. So the New York Post is trying
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: to get into the digital age, finally, and they send
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: their street reporters out to actually do some, you know,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: pre-produced videos to try to do something to try to
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: make it, you know, more accessible to people. Here's their
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: on-the-street reporter talking about these candy prices, and she tries
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: to be entertaining with it. But look at how she
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: presents this entire thing. Here she is.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: This is the big boy, 160 pieces for $ 43.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: You got to tap.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Into your 401k to get a piece of candy these days.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: This is crazy.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: So in 2026, all I can get for.
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: $ 50 is this and this.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: That's it.
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: Two measly bags.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: But back in 2021, you were getting all of this candy.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: An extra $ 35 worth of candy. All thanks to inflation.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Now that's interesting. So in most media outlets who are
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: covering this entire thing are doing the exact same thing.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: They love to take, maybe because it's the five-year period,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: but they love to take similar stories too. They all
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: copy each other. They always take, like, this is what
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: you can get in 2026 for 50 bucks. 2021, that's
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: always that earmark. But back in 2021, everything was so
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: much better. It was great. 2021. Isn't that interesting? And
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: they all wrap it up around inflation. But is it really?
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Is it? Now, let's dig a little deeper. Now, I
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: said this is the only part of politics I'm going
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: to mention with this consumer issue here, but it's important
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: because of what's coming up in a couple of weeks
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: just past Halloween with the midterms. So who are some
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: of the Key figures who are blaming you-know-who, who happens
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: to be president right now in the White House, on
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: the high price of candy prices. This is actually a thing,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: and it is actually happening. Let's start with, and here's
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: just a list. I compiled a list from ChatGPT and
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Grok on X, and I said, who are some of
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: the prominent figures directly blaming President Trump for high candy prices?
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Here's what both of them came up with from gathered
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: posts on social media. Elizabeth Warren, Senator Elizabeth Warren. I
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: know what she's going as this Halloween. Side note. Posted
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: a video, Donald Trump's jacked up candy prices just in
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: time for Halloween. Here's another Politico, Robert Reich. Rush used
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to call him Robert Reich. Video arguing candy prices were
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: already high due to corporate price gouging and further due
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: to Trump's terrifying tariffs.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Other 2025 posts from other consumer issues always blame the administration, blah, blah, blah.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: So pretty much, Oh, there's something called Common Dreams. They
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: posted a headline, Consumers are feeling spooked. Trump's failed economic policies.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Groundwork Collaborative is another one. You can imagine what they're
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: all about. Of course, same exact thing. They're just stealing
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: the headlines of the price. Again, compared to 2021, when
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: everyone was so happy, right?
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: But what's really happening here? What's the real story? I
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: give ABC, again, credit for this one. This is the
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: real story on what the... And granted, Let's all acknowledge
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: that these prices are ridiculously high. Yeah, it's just one
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: portion of the consumer issue, but it is one thing
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: that a lot of people are spending money on this year,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: and it is too high. An actual honest report that
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: gave some details about the high cost of what's actually
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: causing it from ABC of all places. This is just
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the other night.
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: This is a not-so-sweet headline with Halloween trick-or-treating just about
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: two weeks away now. The new inflation report shows candy
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: prices got more expensive in September. They're now up nearly
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: 8% in the past year, and if you really want
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: a sour taste in your mouth, Look at the past
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: five years, candy prices spiking 45%. A key reason why,
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: extreme weather conditions in cocoa-producing regions of the world have
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: dented supply and driven up prices. They have come down recently,
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: but most of the chocolate that you'll buy on shelves
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: was still made by companies when prices were on what
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: you could call a sugar high. So chocolate is still
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: the overwhelming Halloween candy favorite.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Interesting. Now, she had no problem saying what the actual
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: cause was. And compared that five-year period again, you know,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: that's totally fair. but said correctly and accurately, and I
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: give her credit for that, on ABC News, I'm shocked too,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: increasingly expensive since that time. It wasn't just like some,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: it wasn't just some big jump like Elizabeth Warren would
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: like to tell you once Trump got into the White House.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: No, no, no.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: It's a lot more than that that's going into this
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: whole thing. But still, doesn't mean these prices aren't ridiculous.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: What I would like to know is, what is with
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: the size of these candy prices, of these candy bars? Now,
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: God forbid, you're not going to be able to afford
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: it anymore. That's the real sign of wealth these days
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: is to be able to buy full-size candy bars. I mean,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: you would have to live next to an NFL player
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: or a captain of industry to have your kids trick-or-treat
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: at a house that has full-size candy bars these days.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: That would be extremely expensive. But with the family size
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: and the minis, somehow the minis have gotten miniature or
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: even smaller. They're micro now is what you have to say.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: So some consumer watchdog group, did a study on this
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: about the actual size of this whole thing, and I
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: stole their headline. Shriekflation, right? The Hershey's Dark Chocolate Assortment.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you've seen that. That bag is now 17%
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: smaller than it once was. So this is now just
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: getting into greed from the candy manufacturers. Rolo Party Pack.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: I don't know what the hell that is. I like Rolos, though.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: They shrank from 40 ounces to 35.6. They actually have
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: to weigh these things. Reese's Miniatures Party Pack. That's probably
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: one of the most popular... candy items that people buy
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: year after year. It fell from 40 ounces to 35.6.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: So you're right. If you go to a store and
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: you actually see the high prices, which are shocking enough,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: but then you look at the bag and you're like,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: they're getting smaller and there's more air in here. That's
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: actually a thing. Personal story. It was just yesterday. My
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: wife and I were at a Costco locally here, and
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: I witnessed this in person. Hand to God, I actually
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: witnessed this. I'm at the cart, kind of like stationed
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: as she's walking around, and I happen to be stationed
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: with the cart next to, you know how a Costco
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: or a BJ's is, and there's a giant candy section
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: in the middle, giant whole thing, with these kind of
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: variety party pack bags we're talking about. There was an
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: older fellow who walked right up next to me because
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: he was looking at the prices of these assortment variety packs.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: This literally happened. This is verbatim. He walked up to it.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: He looked directly at the price, and he goes, wow,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: and then he walked away. So I think he was
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: put in charge of buying Halloween candy this year. I
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: wasn't exactly aware of the high prices, so it shocked
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: that guy. But he's not alone, which is why it's
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: a consumer issue. How about the M & M' s party size?
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: They have shrink-flated, that's a word now, almost 10% since 2019. See,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: so it's progressive. This thing isn't just because of you-know-who
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: in the White House. So it's there. It's a thing.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: It's shrink-flation. Yes, it's shrink-flation. Yes, it's a thing. But
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: it is a consumer issue. But you're going to hear
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: a lot of people trying to blame this on something
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: that's actually not a thing. But here's the other interesting
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: fact about all this. And you heard it there in
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: one of the ABC reports. I think both of those
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: ABC reports actually reported this. It's not stopping Americans from
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: buying into their overall Halloween expenses. You know what I mean?
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Like they'll try to scare you into, like some of
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: the propaganda that I was just reading for you there.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Is this economy going to scare people out of celebrating Halloween?
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: It never has. The spending has never gone down, not
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: even through the COVID years of Halloween expenses. but the
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: biggest part of Halloween spending is this candy. And the
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: economists don't think so. The consumer experts don't expect anybody
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: to slow down either just because the prices are high
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: on this whole thing. So candy companies win. You're getting
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: less of it, and the prices are actually higher. But
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: what does this tell you about Americans? We still want
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: to have fun with this stuff. We still want to
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: be able to celebrate, and Halloween's not dying out, you know,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: You're hearing a lot of this because this happens to
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: be a Halloween season that's right before the midterms, so
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: they're trying to scare the life out of you, so
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: to speak, pun intended, about the economy. And it's all
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: because of inflation. No, it's not. It's because of the
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: cocoa prices. That's why this is happening, and because of
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: greedy manufacturers who are using it as an excuse to
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: give you even less for what you're buying. But it's
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: not stopping us, which should tell you about the popularity
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: of this particular holiday. There's really nothing like it. There isn't.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: It's not uniquely American, but we do Halloween like nobody
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: else in America. Yes, it's a huge consumer issue. Obviously,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: we've been talking about that for the past 15 minutes,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: but it's also the one day of the year we
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: actually get to go out and go to other people's
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: houses and actually possibly even have a party, which is
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: rarer and rarer these days. It's not going to stop
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: people from celebrating Halloween. Maybe you cut back a little,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: but I don't know. The people it'll mostly affect, like
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: I said, are the people who buy full-size candy bars.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: That's a true sign of wealth in 2026. I think
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: that's the only people that are actually going to be
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: stopped by it, but I don't know. But don't buy
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: what they're trying to tell you about the high cost
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: of candy bars or what's causing it. It's high, but
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: not because of what you think. All right. Thanks for
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: finding me. Appreciate you.
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: See?
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: At least when we're talking about politics, mostly, you know,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: can't avoid it completely these days. It's a consumer issue.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: The Wicked Radio livestream, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-ish, Eastern
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Time on X and YouTube and Facebook. The replay is
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: always right there for you. But a special note on
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: the audio podcast, which is uploaded shortly after the livestream
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: every single day. A lot of you have found it,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: and the downloads have been, like, you found the download button, apparently,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: and the share button, and I really appreciate that on
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: whatever podcast platform you like, whether that's Apple or Spotify or.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Spreaker is on there or iHeart or whatever it is.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: They all ask you to do something different, but you're
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: doing it. I appreciate it very much. So go ahead
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: and spend your money on Halloween candy. But again, the
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: most important tip is don't buy it too early because
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: you're going to dip into that bag. They got me
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: again this year. I'll talk to you tomorrow.