00:00Americans spent a record $55 billion on candy last year and got less candy.
00:06Here's what's happening.
00:07That number comes from the candy industry's own trade group.
00:10Sales dollars are up 5.3% driven by inflation,
00:13while the actual amount of candy people bought fell for the fourth year running.
00:17Chocolate took the hardest hit.
00:19Dollar sales rose almost 7% while the amount sold actually dropped.
00:23So you're paying more for a smaller bar.
00:26Lint, the maker of those foil-wrapped little truffles,
00:28raised its prices almost 12% this year,
00:31blaming what it called significantly higher input costs.
00:35That input is cocoa.
00:36And cocoa, according to CNBC,
00:38is now down about 34% from its record highs in the last few years.
00:42Lint's profit margin still went up anyway,
00:45even as its global sales volume fell 7.5%.
00:49Lint already told Reuters it may cut prices selectively to win shoppers back.
00:54And the trade group's numbers say the same math is happening industry-wide
00:57and called it a record year.
00:59You're still buying candy,
01:01just less of it and paying more for the privilege.
01:04So if a record year means you get less for more,
01:07how many other records do you think are hiding the same thing?
01:09Let us know in the comments.
01:10Let us know in the comments.
