For some, it’s never too early to begin preparations for Halloween. The Hershey Company seems to agree. “Why wait for Halloween? Now, you can have REESE’S Peanut Butter Pumpkins sent to your doorstep,” says their website.
Fans of the festive candy can buy a 32-ounce bag on shop.hersheys.com for $24.99. According to USA Today, there is no limit to how many bags you can buy, but there is a limit to the amount of bags available online to purchase.
Reese’s Pumpkins
This is the earliest release of Reese’s Pumpkins the candy company has ever had, per Food & Wine. Starting July 23, three months before Halloween, the treats can be purchased online for a limited time.
It is unclear how long supplies will last, so buying the Pumpkins early and storing them on the pantry shelves might be a smart choice — unless, like me, you’ll eat them all before September starts.
According to Food & Wine, Reese’s has rolled out several themed promotions over the past few months. In May, for example, Reese’s Medals were released in honor of the 2024 Olympic Games. in June, Reese’s announced the Jumbo Cup, which is quadruple the size of a normal Reese’s peanut butter cup.
“You might be wondering why Reese’s Pumpkins are worth getting excited about when there are all manner of other Reese’s options to enjoy at any given moment,” says Food & Wine.
“To fans, the answer is obvious: The ratio of peanut butter to chocolate is slightly different in the seasonal shapes versus the cups. Furthermore, the shapes lack the rigid outer edge that gives the classic Peanut Butter Cup its shape, meaning that each bite is nothing but smooth chocolate and soft peanut butter.”
The Hershey Company is not the only brand that is getting a head start on Halloween products. Home Goods and Pottery Barn have released Halloween decor items. One social media user posted on TikTok: “It’s that time already.. Halloween shopping at Home Goods!! 🎃”
Home Depot has also planned ahead with their 2024 Spooky Halloween Product Lineup, which includes an iconic 12-foot skeleton, a 13-foot Jack Skellington, a variety of animatronics, fog machines, pumpkins and tombstones.
Other Halloween treats
While many other Halloween goodies won’t hit the shelves for another few months, here are some of the most popular treats to keep an eye out for:
- Candy corn: a Halloween classic. While the orange, white and yellow candies can usually be purchased year-round, it really takes off on the shelves in the autumn months.
- Welch’s Halloween fruit snacks: The packs feature the same flavors with a variety of different Halloween-themed shapes, including witches, ghosts, pumpkins, castles and bats.
- Halloween Rice Krispies Treats: The “Trick or Treat” mini squares feature kid-friendly Halloween monsters with glow-in-the-dark pouches.
- Halloween pretzels: Around Halloween time, you can usually track down bags of festive Halloween pretzels. Some even come in the shapes of bats or pumpkins.
- Halloween Cheetos: Cheetos Bag Of Bones is a cheesy snack with an assortment of bone-shaped chips.
- Halloween Oreos: Halloween-themed Oreos are pretty special due to their orange-colored frosting and spooky cookie prints, which include spiderwebs, ghosts and pumpkins, among other designs.
- Pillsbury Ghost Cookies: These festive sugar cookies feature a happy ghost printed on the dough or an orange pumpkin, depending on the type you buy.
- Halloween M&M’s: A festively colored arrangement of M&M’s is one way to “spookify” a dessert or a cookie recipe.
- Dunkin’ Donuts: The donut company usually features fun Halloween-themed donuts during spooky season, including an orange-frosted donut decorated to look like there’s a spider sitting in the middle of it.