This Is America's Favorite Easter Candy, According To Instacart

Jelly beans, Reese's peanut butter eggs, Peeps, chocolate rabbits... These candies and so many more are practically guaranteed to be found in someone's Easter basket this year. Just like Halloween is a moneymaker for candy companies in the fall — in September 2021, it was predicted that Americans would spend $10 billion on Halloween candy and costumes (via USA Today) — the Easter season is also a perfect time for confectionary companies to unload everything from those little chalky pastel eggs to hunks of solid chocolate shaped like Peter Rabbit to a sugar-hungry market.

But what exactly is America's favorite Easter candy? Sources can differ depending on who you talk to, and everyone has their own personal favorite. A 2021 article from Infoplease claims that Americans consume 16 billion jelly beans during the Easter season, while Mental Floss noted in 2020 that 5.5 million Peeps are made every day. Clearly, companies sell a whole lot of Easter candy every season, and those two treats are certainly some of the top sellers.

According to Instacart, however, there is one strong contender for America's favorite Easter candy — and in hindsight, it's a pretty obvious one. 

If you guessed that Cadbury eggs are America's favorite Easter treat, you'd be correct — at least, according to Instacart. The company polled their recent purchase data and discovered that chocolate eggs were the most widely purchased type of Easter candy, with Cadbury Creme Eggs taking the number one spot, closely followed by Reese's peanut butter eggs. In fact, Instacart discovered that Cadbury eggs predominately rule much of the United States' East Coast, while a large majority of the Midwest and East Coast favor Reese's.

Strangely, for being such a beloved Easter treat here in the US, what with the classic commercials boasting that "no-bunny does Easter like Cadbury," Cadbury isn't exactly the most "American" of chocolate companies. Unlike Hershey's, for example, Cadbury has roots in the United Kingdom, dating back to the 1800s. In 1988, Hershey paid $300 million dollars to produce Cadbury's products here in the United States (via Business Insider). Stranger still, the British version of Cadbury chocolates is banned in the United States. Hershey put a ban on imports back in 2015 simply to prevent any "foreign" competition.

But be they English or American, Cadbury creme eggs have undoubtedly made a mark on the American Easter candy scene.