Across the U.S., holidays typically entail spending time with loved ones, celebrating religious traditions and, of course, eating delicious food.
In anticipation of Easter Sunday, delivery company Instacart released a report last month detailing Americans’ sweet-treat preferences for the holiday, based on data from 2022. Although there was some regional variation, it seems the most popular Easter candy was Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs.
“From coast to coast, Americans share a deep and abiding love for the timeless duo of chocolate and peanut butter,” Laurentia Romaniuk, a trends expert with Instacart, told HuffPost.
“As Easter approaches, it’s no surprise that the iconic Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs claim their rightful place as the number-one Easter candy overall and in no less than 30 states. As the top candy delivered last year and the number-two candy in 2021, we expect Reese’s to dominate Easter carts again this year.”
To identify the preferred Easter treats, Instacart made a list of candies whose sales grew by at least 50% on its online grocery platform in the two weeks leading up to 2022′s holiday, compared with the preceding two weeks. From there, the company looked at which candy from the list was the top seller in each state.
After Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs, there was a tie for which treat led in the second-highest number of states. Starburst Easter Jellybeans, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were each the top pick in five states. Next were Kinder Joy Chocolate Candy Eggs in three states and Cadbury Creme Eggs in two.
Instacart also shared a list of the 10 top-selling Easter candies overall, using the same comparison of two-week periods. These included additional offerings like the Lindt Hollow Milk Chocolate Bunny and Peeps Yellow Marshmallow Chicks.
Looking beyond the sweet treats, the platform released some insights around savory Easter entrees. Unsurprisingly, ham was the the most popular choice, with orders growing by 254% during the week leading up to Easter Sunday.
And on the more kosher side of things, Instacart examined the top-selling dishes around Passover — which runs from April 5-13 this year, overlapping with Easter on April 9. Naturally there’s a rising demand for matzo, with sales of the unleavened bread rising by 291% in the week leading up to Passover last year. Other traditional foods that surged around this time were gefilte fish, brisket, rack of lamb and matzo ball soup mix.
Read the full report for more insights into Americans’ food preferences during Easter and Passover, as well as the methodology behind these findings.