Marion Nestle knows it’s not easy to be a smart consumer of food, or of media. John Downs, the President & CEO of the National Confectioners Association, said in a statement, "The CDC’s guidance reinforces that Halloween is happening and provides inspiration for creative and safe approaches to celebrating the holiday throughout the month of October. It is the biggest of the industry’s “big four” holidays, which also include Valentine’s Day, Easter and the winter holidays. The National Confectioners Association is the trade organization that promotes the unique role of chocolate, candy, gum and mints in a happy, balanced lifestyle and the companies that make these special treats. How North Carolina became the home of Japan’s #1 candy. ©2020 The Counter. Some companies got a jump start, rushing their Halloween candy into stores two weeks early this year, says Lauren O’Toole Boland, an NCA spokesperson. “Consumers appreciate and value chocolate and candy during these uncertain times because of their uncanny ability to boost your mood and lighten your perspective.”. You are granted a personal, revocable, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Services and the Content conditioned on your continued acceptance of, and compliance with, the Terms. “We for years have been a part of the conversation around Halloween, because of the central role that chocolate and candy play in the holiday,” Gindlesperger said. You’ve got to be at least a little skeptical of any poll touting the importance of one of the biggest candy-selling holidays of the year that’s put out by the National Confectioners Association. "Lower risk activities" from the CDC during Halloween include carving pumpkins with your household or while practicing social distancing with neighbors and friends, decorating your home, creating a scavenger hunt either inside your home or outdoors looking for Halloween-themed items from house to house. All rights reserved. “If that doesn’t speak to 80 percent of people believing in safe ways to celebrate this year,” he said, “I don’t know what does.”. Our independent, deep, and unbiased reporting isn't possible without your support. Gindlesperger, meanwhile, points to a Cincinnati dad who made a six-foot candy chute, attached to a handrail, to deposit candy to neighborhood kids at a safe distance. Donate. “Many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for spreading viruses,” reads the guidance, which is meant to supplement, not replace, orders from local health authorities. So with billions of dollars of sales on the line, the candy industry has sprung into action. Bright red endcaps burst with seasonal treats. If that spells doom for Halloween, the candy industry doesn’t want to hear it. Now, without the typical reveling, that late October business could be at risk. In recent months, food has been a continual source of personal comfort for many—so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that cheap, sweet, and ubiquitous candy has proven to be remarkably pandemic-proof. Use of this Site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy. National Confectioners Association. New York City put the kibosh on its annual Halloween parade, which normally draws crowds of over 50,000. Between March 15 and September 6, chocolate and candy sales are up by 4 percent compared to the year prior, says Chris Gindlesperger, NCA’s vice president for public affairs. Ostroff was contracted for this year’s push, he said, because public health “is not an area where we’re experts, and we don’t pretend to be.”. For months, the National Confectioners Association (NCA)—a trade group that represents 600 candy manufacturers, suppliers, and brokers—has led an effort to ensure that the holiday it calls its Super Bowl goes on as planned. In a poll conducted by The Harris Poll in June, 74 percent of millennial mothers and young parents said Halloween is “more important than ever” this year, and 90 percent said they couldn’t imagine the holiday without candy and that trick-or-treating is “irreplaceable.” In a July poll conducted by Morning Consult, 63 percent of people said they will find “creative and safe ways” to celebrate Halloween. The trade association also launched a public relations blitz aimed at the media and health officials in cities, states and in Washington, D.C. “We are optimistic that the Mayor will put together a fun, creative and safe Halloween celebration for the City of Chicago,” reads a press release sent September 10, after The Chicago Tribune warned Mayor Lori Lightfoot not to “ghost” Halloween. Chief Growth Officer Green Rabbit. Get a weekly dish of features, commentary and insight from the food movement’s front lines. We may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Services without notice or liability. Those recommendations are also published on an NCA website, Halloween Central, that the association says is “taking the guesswork out of Halloween.” The site features other tips for Covid-era treating, along with newspaper editorials, testimonials from elected officials, and plenty of reminders that “experts agree” the holiday must go on. Among the recommendations? In the wake of the CDC's guidance discouraging traditional trick-or-treating amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the President of the National Confectioners Association and a former CDC & FDA official released statements in favor of the holiday time sake. Gindlesperger said NCA also “works very closely” with members of Congress, and encouraged the co-chairs of the Congressional Candy Caucus, Democratic Representative Ann Kuster of New Hampshire, and Republican Representative Jackie Walorski of Indiana, to seek “potential pathways for people to celebrate the Halloween season” safely. That’s contributed to the bump in those seasonal item sales, which accounted for $749 million last year, according to NCA’s March report. In August, Kuster and Walorski were among a bipartisan group of 30 members of Congress who signed a letter to CDC Director Robert Redfield to publicly comment on alternative Halloween activities—such as video costume parties, drive-through trick-or-treating, and “leaving packages of sweet treats for friends and neighbors to pick up”—that minimize exposure to the virus. Marketing materials from the National Confectioners Association, like the graphic shown here, helped establish a narrative that Halloween trick-or-treating can’t be stopped—even by the Covid-19 pandemic. 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