Estonians Celebrate Halloween with Sweets
A survey conducted by Norstat on behalf of Prisma confirms that Estonians primarily prepare for Halloween by buying sweets – 65% of respondents who plan to celebrate the holiday said so. Sales statistics also show a noticeable rise in pumpkin sales during the season.
Although Halloween is not a traditional Estonian holiday, almost one in five respondents said they plan to celebrate it, according to Norstat. “We can see from both the sales data and the survey results that various sweets are the most popular products during this period. The survey also revealed that people love to dress up – 43% of respondents plan to buy costumes or face paint,” says Kaimo Niitaru, Prisma’s Procurement and Assortment Director.
Niitaru adds: “During last year’s Halloween period (15–31 October), candy sales increased by about 10–15% compared to the usual period. The biggest spikes occurred on 30 October (+33%) and 31 October (+60%), which together accounted for most of the overall growth. This clearly shows that people tend to make their purchasing decisions at the last moment.”
This year, Prisma’s Halloween candy selection includes several new and unique products. The range of liquorice has expanded, and shoppers can now find Fazer’s black-and-orange Halloween chocolate balls as well as Trolli spider-shaped gummy candies. Some sweets are inspired by well-known films and TV shows – Prisma now offers Harry Potter gummies and Stranger Things chocolate eggs.
Pumpkins remain a seasonal favourite
Survey results show that 36% of respondents plan to buy pumpkins for Halloween, and their sales trend mirrors that of sweets. According to Prisma’s 2024 sales data, pumpkin sales surged starting 25 October – the Friday before Halloween – with the busiest shopping days between 29 and 31 October. This year, Prisma has already seen a rise in pumpkin sales since 23 October.
“To meet our customers’ growing interest, we’ve also expanded our pumpkin assortment,” says Niitaru. Prisma now offers 14 different varieties of pumpkins, including spaghetti squash, bottle gourd, butternut squash, Hokkaido pumpkin, Halloween pumpkin (with themed design), orange pumpkin, nut pumpkin, white pumpkin, Celebration pumpkin, decorative pumpkins, organic pumpkin mix, and zucchinis.
The classic orange pumpkin remains Prisma shoppers’ top choice – perfect for carving Halloween lanterns – followed by butternut and bottle gourds, while the specially designed Halloween pumpkins are also gaining popularity.
The Norstat survey was conducted between 29 September and 8 October 2025 among 700 respondents aged 20–60 from Tallinn, Harju County, Tartu County, Ida-Viru County and Rapla County. The sample is representative of Estonia’s population by gender, nationality, age and region.