By Christina Lin
Easter is a time for celebrating new life and beginnings, and is also a renowned food holiday. According to the National Confectioners Association, Easter is the second most important candy-eating occasion for Americans. In 2014, $2.26 billion worth of candy was consumed in the United States alone. As expected, one of the ways to celebrate the holiday is to share some sweets with family and friends, and go on an Easter egg hunt for the bright candies and bunny-shaped chocolates. Career site Zippa analyzed Google trends to discover what state likes which Easter treats the best. After compiling the data on what each state disproportionately searches for in comparison to the rest of the nation, the data was put on a map to visualize the most popular Easter treats for each state.
Looking at the map, there’s an array of Easter snacks from jelly beans to chocolate bunnies. Google trends revealed that a total of fourteen states prefer boiled Easter eggs as their snack of choice, taking first place. Second place is a tie between jelly beans and candy eggs, each eleven states respectively. On a closer inspection, New York is the only state standing behind Kinder Easter Eggs. Wyoming is the only state representing Mini Eggs, and Michigan is the only state that prefers Sweet Tart Jelly Beans over any other flavors.
Jellybeans is one of the most popular Easter treats as indicated by the map. The candy did not become an Easter tradition until the 1930s. Today, Americans consume around sixteen billion jellybeans, with the most popular flavor being cherry. If all the Easter jellybeans were lined end to end, they would circle the globe nearly three times.
In 2021, eight states’ top searched Easter candy is Peeps, taking third place with Chocolate Bunnies in fourth. As many as 5 million Marshmallow Peeps are made each day in the weeks leading up to Easter. Back in 1953, it took approximately 27 hours to create a Peep whereas today, it takes merely six minutes. The most popular of the marshmallow treat are the yellow Peeps, followed by pink, lavender, blue, and white.
To read more, visit: https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/favorite-easter-treats-2021-map and https://www.infoplease.com/culture-entertainment/holidays/sweet-easter-facts