Love it or hate it, it’s candy corn season
The Springhouse offers a variety of sweet fall treats, including candy corn and pumpkins and its best-selling autumn mix. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
Candy corn is the third best-selling Halloween candy, according to the National Confectioners Association. At The Springhouse, autumn mix â which includes traditional candy corn, candy pumpkins and harvest corn â is fallâs best-selling sweet. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
The Jack-Oâ-Lantern Smiley cookie, featuring three kernels of candy corn, debuted in 1986, the same year Eatân Park introduced the traditional Smiley. Here, Jack-Oâ-Lantern is pictured with Eatân Parkâs other ghoulish sweet treats, the Mummy and Monster Smiley cookies. (Photo courtesy of Courtney Caprara)
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Since the start of fall, a meme bearing the words, âItâs candy corn season for all u crayon eating psychopathsâ has been making the rounds on social media.
In case you hadnât heard, the yellow, white and orange sweet sold once a year is quite the polarizing treat.
âPeople, either theyâre candy corn lovers or theyâre candy corn haters. Itâs a huge debate,â laughed Kristy Vliet, owner of 5 Kidz Candy in Waynesburg. âI am anti-candy corn.â
Which means you wonât find bags of the sugary-sweet confection on 5 Kidzâs shelves. But a piece of the fake corn does appear as an accent on the shopâs cupcakes and other fall desserts. Even then, the candy sometimes raises eyebrows.
Last year, a piece of candy corn that appeared on a spooky season cupcake artfully decorated in chocolate icing and a gravestone generated debate between a couple who popped into 5 Kidz for something sweet.
âWe have a husband and wife, the guy was like, âWhy would you ruin perfectly good chocolate icing by putting candy corn on it?'â Vliet laughed, adding the wife said it was the icing that ruined the candy corn.
Candy corn has been dividing sweets lovers for more than a century.
In the 1880s, candy companies went through a phase, during which they molded mellowcreme concoctions into all sorts of agricultural shapes, including chestnuts and pumpkins, marketed to country kids, since about half of working Americans were farmers.
According to the National Confectioners Association, around that time George Renninger, an employee at Philadelphiaâs Wunderle Candy Co., invented a colorful piece of corn made from sugar and corn syrup.
The tri-colored candy was cheap to make and, in 1898, the Goelitz Candy Co., now Jelly Belly, crafted its own version of Renningerâs sweet. Goelitz called it Chicken Feed, since corn didnât often grace American dinner tables, and quickly other candy companies started selling their own version of Chicken Feed as penny candy year-round.
When Halloween became a commercial holiday in the 1950s, candy corn got a makeover, becoming a delicacy associated with and sold around Oct. 31.
In fact, according to the NCA, candy corn is the third most-popular Halloween treat for the 2023 season, trailing chocolate and gummy candies.
The Springhouse Country Market and Restaurant in Washington is ready for those stocking up for Halloween or simply craving something sweet. Last week, the family-owned farm and storefront put out its candy corn stash.
âItâll probably be gone before the end of the month,â said Marcia Minor Opp, owner-manager.
The Springhouse orders candy corn six months before the sweet hits the sales floor, Opp said, so each year itâs a guessing game of how much will sell.
âWeâre hoping we guessed big enough this year,â Opp laughed. âThe harvest mix is a big seller. That is probably the biggest seller of all the candy for the fall.â
Also popular are the Springhouseâs three other flavors: caramel apple, sâmores and blackberry cobbler (popularized in Eastern Canada) candy corn.
âThe blackberry cobblerâs really good,â Opp said. âThe first year we got it we thought, oh my gosh, this is so fun. We must get more next year.â
Itâs been a staple ever since.
Candy corn is a staple at Gene & Boots in Fayette County, too, where it arrives on shelves just in time for Halloween season.
But âitâs not as popular as it used to be,â said Eric Ferguson, third-generation owner.
âWeâve noticed a lot of different things change over the years,â Ferguson said, noting some sweets that used to fly off shelves are no longer top-sellers. âItâs the way times change.â
People gravitate toward Gene & Bootsâ chocolates â chocolate pumpkin plaques and jack-oâ-lantern pops are made in-house â and candy apples.
âWhatâs selling right now is the caramel apples. We do our own caramel apples and candy apples. Thereâs all kinds of different varieties â â15, to be exact,â and âthatâs definitely more important than candy corn for Halloween, for us,â Ferguson said.
He doesnât personally enjoy candy corn, Ferguson laughed, but âsome people want it, so we carry it.â
What makes candy corn at once so delightful and disgusting, depending on oneâs tastebuds, is the flavor, which is hard to put into words.
âItâs an odd taste, but itâs a good taste. Itâs sweet. I donât know how to explain it. I wish I could. I canât,â said Carla Phillips, of Washington, who loves candy corn.
Saundra Mader tried comparing the Halloween candy to a sweets experience most can relate to.
âIt kind of reminds me of those circus peanuts that melt in your mouth,â she said, noting she only eats candy corn if itâs Brachâs, which happens to be the most popular brand in the U.S.
While Phillips and Mader are OK with candy corn, Joyce Novak, of Richeyville, is not.
âItâs gross,â she said emphatically. âItâs just like eating sugar. It doesnât have any flavor.â
Those who donât mind the straight-sugar sweet are particular about how they consume candy corn.
âThereâs a big debate each Halloween about the ârightâ way to eat candy corn,â said Carly Schildhaus, NCAâs director of public affairs and communications. âFifty-one percent of people eat the whole piece at once, while 31% of Americans start with the narrow white end and just 18% say they start with the wider yellow end.â
Though the flavor elicits strong disapproval from some, itâs hard to deny candy cornâs cuteness. A quick Instagram search for âcandy cornâ yields a variety of candy corn plushies and crochet patterns, and candy corn-inspired desserts (including chocolate-dipped strawberries dressed in yellow, orange and white).
âIt looks cute but it tastes gross,â Vliet laughed. âWe do custom cookies, and we do a candy corn one. It looks like candy corn, and itâs a sugar cookie. We sell a lot of those. People gravitate toward it because it is really cute looking, but we donât make it taste like candy corn.â
Since 1986, Eatân Park has offered a cute twist on traditional candy corn. From about Labor Day through Halloween, the jack-oâ-lantern Smiley cookies, featuring candy corn kernels as eyes and noses, delight cookie lovers.
âWe know some people are bigger fans of candy corn than others, but it really helps our Jack-Oâ-Lantern Smileys get into the spirit of spooky season and brings a smile to our guests,â said Courtney Caprara, spokesperson, Eatân Park Restaurants. âWeâve heard from many guests that the only time they are willing to eat candy corn is when itâs on our Jack-Oâ-Lantern Smiley cookies.â
Love it or hate it, itâs candy corn season, and whether youâre binge-eating a bag or avoiding it altogether, the colorful piece of candy is available for enjoyment or disdain through the end of spooky season.