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What a bunch of sourpusses.
Just in time for trick or treating, a national survey of shopper preferences broken down by age group contains what looks like spooky news for sugar pushers — Gen Z does not, in fact, want candy.
TIME’s America’s Best Brands report, which asked each generation to list their favorite brands by preference, revealed that 14-29 year-olds appear to be quickly losing interest in the sweet stuff — and when they do imbibe, they’re sticking with the relatively affordable basics.
Gen Zers primarily opted for peanutty Reese’s and Snickers, when chasing a chocolate high — preferring West Coast-based favorite See’s Candies as their lone, upscale choice.
The report’s authors explained that the research was compiled based on the brands that respondents mentioned the most and rated the highest. More than 33,000 Americans participated in the project, done in partnership with Statista.
Lists by category, which ranged from auto parts stores to fast food chains, were longer or shorter depending on how many responses they received.
Baby Boomers were positively cuckoo for cocoa — with bougie Godiva receiving their highest rating.
Gen Xers were more budget minded, selecting Snickers as their favorite.
Millennials agreed with their juniors — also selecting Reese’s as the best.
All three older sets chose enough to pack out a list of five per generation.
Gen Z, however, melted away from the candy convo after just three picks — and scored their top fave, Reese’s, at a relatively paltry 85.95 percent, with their other two choices lagging behind by about a point apiece.
Older folks were far more enthusiastic — handing out scores as high as 95 percent. (Millennials really love Reese’s, apparently — with or without real chocolate.)
Besides candy, the authors noted that Gen Z lacked interest in a number of other key categories, which revealed possible trouble ahead for the likes of department stores — of which they selected none — and ovens, because they don’t own homes in large numbers.
The candy collapse among the younger crowd comes amid reports Gen Zers are more miserable than other generations — with 1 in 4 being treated for depression.
That number is up by 11 points since 2019, the new Life Evaluation Index poll from Gallup showed.
“Gen Z has had constant access to their smart phones and social media, plus a global pandemic plus financial stressors like housing that no other generation has had,” Dr. Katrina Furey, MD, a Connecticut-based psychiatrist, previously told The Post.
Another tax on their wallets, leading to a possible explanation in their loss of interest in sweets: the soaring cost of confections.
For 2026, Halloween candy prices shot up a spooky 71 percent over five years ago, a recent study showed.
A standard 100-piece bag of sweets now averages $16.96 — about $7.05 higher than five years ago, the report revealed.
