Thread: Candy Strategies to Prevent Running Out!

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Several times I thought I had purchased enough candy or more than enough, only to find that it was gone way too soon. Bad candy management was sometimes to blame. A small number of trick or treaters at first made it seem okay to hand out handfuls, only to be surprised by larger and larger groups. I have begun to think about candy management strategies...

There were two boxes last year. Two big cardboard boxes, into which were dumped various snack size bags of candy.

One box had mostly premium brands and chocolate. There were some cheaper pieces to pad the box out, just in case. That box was for the first half of the evening. Only two pieces were given to each person (or sometimes an extra piece for that special person who had made extra effort in their costume, etc.!). The plan was to carefully monitor consumption of the first box, and keep the second box totally set aside until a couple of hours had passed. We figured we would have about four hours of darkness in Los Angeles, from 7 to 11 PM. At 7 PM, the display lights and sound were switched on and we were ready to rock and roll.

At around 9, we were just scraping the bottom of the first box. We had given out some extra pieces here and there but the controlled handout plan had worked. Because the second box was set aside (and obnoxious grabbers never even saw it!) it was supposed that we had less candy than we actually did.

Box 2 then came into play. This one was mostly cheaper candies but some premium brands. We managed that carefully for the next two hours, and by the time the evening was wrapped up, we still had handfuls of candy left.

Because everyone in the neighborhood liked our spooky display setup, though, we figure that MORE people will arrive next time! So we will have to buy more candy regardless...

I dont give out much candy, it is mainly cheap halloween toys like rubber action figures, rings, stickers, flash lights, gem stone stickers and hair clips. The stuff you would find in those 25 cent machines. I lucked out and got a few large boxes w/ all of the stuff on ebay.

We buy 2 bags of premium candy (snickers/milkyway/skittles/sunburst) and 2-3 bags of the slightly less (willy wonka stuff like sweet tarts/bottlecaps/nerds) and then one large bag of suckers and tootsie rolls.

It all goes into a large galvanized tub that sits slightly behind us (we sit outside).

Best tip is YOU hand out the candy. NEVER let the kids reach in themselves. You end up with a crazy mess and lots of candy dropped, kids take way too much if allowed.


I also buy candy that is not our #1 favorite. We don't pop open the bags before the big night that way.

We start out the night around 6 because the little kids tend to come out before dark. They get 2 pieces depending. Mostly we give the really little ones a choice of a toy (ghost/pumpkin whistles, glow bracelets or bat/spider rings) with a piece or two of candy. We turn everything on around 7-8 when it gets dark, and up the candy to 3-4 pieces for the kids in costume (everyone gets at least 2 pieces, but extra effort gets extra candy).

We are pretty much done by 9:30 - 10, so from 8-9, if the tub is more than half full, we start giving out handfuls - I don't want to be stuck with a quarter tub of candy!

Last year we bought a total of about 240 LARGE candy bars! It's the signature of our haunt. When all was said and done, we had about 70 bars left over! We overestimated just a little, but this year, I'm thinking we'll have a great deal more TOT's...

I have a lot of items I am concerned with on Hallowwen - candy is not one of them. I have access through work to a candy manufacturing in store candy outlet and I buy many boxes of 24 each full sized Charleston Chews among other candies. There is nothing like seeing the faces of the kids when they get these monster candy bars. A lot of parents ask for them also.
I always over buy candy and donate whatever my kids don't hide from me.

The saying around our house associated with Halloween is to much is never enough!

we always have 3 stach :

First : we make 250 to 300 bags, each stapled by me and my wife, containing one small quality chocolate bar, and 2 candy and a lolipope.

Second, loose candies (those 1000 tootsie rolls peices candy) , some chocolates, around 200-300 other kind of candies and more lolipopes. we give about 4 to 5 peices each kids.

And last, the emergencies reserve, 2 boxes of chocolate boxes, 80 peices each box (the best stuff!)

Like this, we can ditermine how many kids we had. We always get 350 to 500 kids and teens.
Almost every year, we add to go in the emergency reseved.

We always spent around 50$ to 70$ each year on candy. I don't mind. I know when I was a kid, chocolat bars were the best, and I want kids to feel the same, opening the bags and seeing the good stuff, not some crappy cheap horrible candies that we hated as kids and no one wanted.

we do a large outside yard maze...time before we had over 400 kids and this last one we stopped counting at 750....its a free haunted and when I go buy I get a whole Walmart shopping cart FULL of good #1 candy that I like. Then I have it at the end of the maze and they grap what they can...I did find out this year poor kids wasnt getting their candy all the time. Because of a last minute scare at the end they just run right pass the the candy person will fix that next time. I think I would have ran out of candy it they all got some.Cost app $400 in candy

I'm the same as osenator, just on a way smaller scale.

Cheap/plentiful is buying in bulk at a box store of some sort imo. we also sit outside at curbside- one of your haunt crew (or you) giving out the treats is a must if you're afeared to run short. An open bowl equals grabbing a heapin' handful, we discovered

For us it's chocolate & more chocolate, with an extra bag in the fridge of chocolate (also smallish bag of non-choco treats for the TOTS who might be allergic). Buying in bulk from local Costco or Smart & Final is one of Mr. Roget's jobs of choice, which he does when he's shopping for his work needs in late September/October.

Surprisingly (or not) Staples, Office Depot, other office supply outlets have very good office candy jar prices right before Halloween, since they're not specifically catering to the Eve of All Hallows crowd.

Year 09 was my first year at my new home. Previously, I decorated my moms house and she bought the candy, we both would hand them out. I moved in a few days before Halloween, had very little money for candy, so I had to compete with other last minute buyers of what was left of the remaining decent candy brands. I could only buy a few bags, I felt horrible. I didnt want my first impression on my neighbors kids to be some cheap candy buyer. I did do up the front porch as best I could and handed out what I had till gone. Then we left for my mothers and I passed out candy over there.

Last year I was bound and determined to buy the full sized candy bars. And I did! At Publix they had some awesome deals on the 6 packs, snickers, milky ways, 3 musketeers, etc. They were about .40c a piece. Then I padded with some walmart sugar type candies and glow bracelets from Michaels ( the BEST deal at $1 for 10 bracelets) along with group buy silly bands.

I had a surplus of waaaaay too much candy, even with handing out handfuls from the start. handfuls of sugar, 1 full size, 1 glow bracelet and a couple GID silly bands. I have a ton of the silly bands, so I hope they still like those this year, lol.

I am keeping the chocolate full sizers that werent passed out last year for this year. Taste testing them every couple months to make sure they are still good. From what my neighbors told me and what I witnessed, we dont get many TOTS.

If I can, Ill keep handing out handfuls and a full size a person, no matter the age. Looks like we get about 40-65 kids. Most of those (about 30) were from a neighbors halloween party and their guests' kids.