Americans will spend about $17.3 billion during the Easter holiday this year, and $2.4 billion of that will go toward candies (up 1.4% from 2015), according to the National Retail Federation. And one peculiarly American candy—Peeps—reigns supreme, at least when comparing what people are searching for online.
The squashy, neon-colored marshmallow confections, made by the Pennsylvania confectioner Just Born but also sold in various generic versions, usually take the form of a rabbit or chick. They have become ingrained in pop culture via the phenomenon of the Peep show, in which the candies are arranged to reenact scenes in diorama contests.
The candy company wouldn’t release any hard data about the amount of its product Americans buy year-on-year, but a spokeswoman told Quartz the company produces about 1.5 billion of the candies during the Easter holiday. That’s about 75% of the total number of Peeps made during the year.
But just because Peeps are winning Easter doesn’t necessarily mean people prefer eating them. More than 100 million chocolate bunnies will be produced this year, along with millions of chocolate eggs.
Among those chocolate eggs, a poll conducted by the American Confectioners Association found people have distinct preferences.
That poll also surveyed Americans’ Easter holiday traditions. It found 71% of households will go on an Easter egg hunt, 79% will dye or decorate eggs and…wait for it…10% will set up and decorate Easter trees.