What’s your favorite Easter candy?
If you’re like a lot of Illinoisans, it’s Starburst Easter Original Jelly Beans — at least according to Instacart, the online grocery pickup and delivery folks.
While that particular brand of candy was tops in the Land of Lincoln, it was edged out nationally by Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs.
Other top 10 seasonal favorites are Lindt’s milk chocolate Gold Bunny, Cadbury Creme Egg, Peeps Marshmallow Chicks, M&M’s Easter candies, Hershey’s Kisses, Hershey’s Candy Coated Eggs, Kinder chocolate eggs and Brach’s Jelly Bird Eggs.
And, according to a recent online Instacart survey of about 2,000 American adults, about 67% of Americans celebrate Easter; of that number, 92% plan to buy Easter candy in 2023.
Then there’s this: About 64% of those buying candy plan to indulge in the chocolate egg variety, with about 51% saying they plan to buy jelly beans. The yellow marshmallow chicks are popular with about 42% of Americans surveyed.
Oh, but there’s more. The Instacart survey found that 66% of those celebrating Easter typically dye eggs, and a majority of those — 78% — plan to eat the eggs they dye.
You can’t live simply on candy. Or maybe you can, but when asked what they plan to eat for Easter dinner, 74% of respondents said ham. Other seasonal favorites include rack of lamb and brisket, according to Instacart.
And if you celebrate Passover, Instacart found that matzah stood out as the most popular staple, with orders for it spiking by 291% in the week leading up to the celebration.
Last year, orders for rack of lamb increased 97%; Matzo ball soup mix, 73%; gefilte fish, 58%; and brisket, 53%.
