Halloween trick-or-treating could be less sugary than usual this year as consumers look for healthier snacks and candy companies such as Hershey HSY.N, the United States' biggest chocolate-maker, adapt their product offerings.

Fuelled by GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and a growing focus on health, eating habits are changing, leading the makers of sweet and salty snacks to adjust their portfolios to offer more protein, smaller-sized products and fewer calories.

In the run-up to Halloween on October 31, which can account for nearly a fifth of annual confectionery retail sales, Hershey has added more salty snacks such as popcorn, cheese puffs and pretzels to its trick-or-treat offering, which its research has found U.S. consumers begin stocking up on months in advance.

"Certainly, the Lesser Evil brand and our salty snacks brands broadly, Skinny Pop and Pirate's Booty, having a greater presence in Halloween is in response to the (healthy eating) dynamic," Dan Mohnshine, Hershey's vice president for demand creation, strategy and innovation, told Reuters.

But he said chocolate was still the Halloween snack of choice.

"When it comes to GLP-1s, we've seen pretty strong resilience in the chocolate category here in the U.S.," he said.

Without giving precise figures, he said early-season sales of snack-size bags of chocolates and sweets had risen in double-digits versus a year ago.

Sugar-free versions, sweetened with sugar alcohols rather than conventional sugar, are also a growth area.

U.S. dollar sales in Hershey's Zero Sugar candy, mint and gum business grew around 4.3 times from 2020 through 2025, Mohnshine said.

AI-driven innovation and the ‘trunk-or-treat’ trend

According to Hershey's "Unwrapping Halloween" report, published in partnership with data intelligence firm Morning Consult this month, three of the five biggest-selling U.S. candies at Halloween are Hershey's products and two-thirds of parents have already bought Halloween treats in the summer.

Further research from the National Confectioners Association found that in 2024, Americans spent $7.4 billion on treats, accounting for 18% of all confectionery retail sales that year.

Given the amount at stake, Hershey is using artificial intelligence to speed up product development.

"We've removed about three months from the typical timeframe it takes to go from consumer insight to approved concept," Mohnshine said. "As a result, our innovation pipeline over the last nine months has expanded 75%."

AI also identifies "trunk-or-treat" parties as a growing trend. They began in COVID lockdowns and are still favoured by communities and families who gather with their cars to exchange treats.

Mohnshine is expecting them to be more popular than ever this year and says the Reese's maker is at the ready with its expanded range of small, individually wrapped pieces that he said are "the key to remaining relevant".