Bunny baskets and Seder staples: America’s Easter and Passover trends
Lifestyle
Audio By Carbonatix
11:30 AM on Thursday, March 26
By Alex Orellana for Instacart, Stacker
Bunny baskets and Seder staples: America’s Easter and Passover trends
When Easter and Passover arrive, shopping carts transform — filling up with chocolate bunnies, fresh florals, and time-honored holiday staples.
This past year, Easter and Passover overlapped, creating one of the busiest and most festive shopping periods of the spring season. Instacart took a look at what customers added to their carts during Easter week (April 14-20, 2025) and the week leading up to Passover (April 7-13, 2025) to see how Americans celebrated.
Here’s an overview from Instacart of what hopped to the top.
Key Takeaways:
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs are the undisputed basket MVP. They ranked as the top-selling Easter candy nationwide for the fourth year in a row, leading Instacart’s Top 10 list.
- Jelly beans have their Easter moment. Jelly beans surged 863% above their yearly average during Easter week — one of the largest candy spikes of the season.
- Easter weekend doubles as a spring reset. Gardening categories like soil (up 128%), mulch (133%), annual plants (157%), and fertilizer (124%) all saw significant lifts, showing that many people use the holiday as a launchpad for spring refresh projects.
- Easter décor dominates the holiday surge. Easter décor, including items like Easter baskets, grass, and plastic eggs, skyrocketed 2,742% above its yearly average during Easter week, making it the single biggest seasonal spike.
- Passover prep is rooted in tradition. In the week leading up to Passover, matzah jumped 1,239% above its yearly average, while gefilte fish (742%), and matzo ball mixes (673%) also surged.
Easter Week: Candy, Lamb — and a Side of Mulch
During the seven-day period ending on Easter Sunday, several categories surged far beyond their typical share of sales throughout the year.
Easter dinner centerpieces had a major moment, alongside candy-filled baskets and playful toys. As families headed outdoors for egg hunts after a long winter, gardening supplies also surged, signaling the unofficial kickoff to green thumb season.
It’s good news for the kiddos. The spike in sidewalk chalk and bubble wands signals that backyard season has officially begun.
The Top 10 Easter Candies in America
When it comes to Easter basket-building, one candy reigned supreme.
During Easter week, Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs ranked as the top-selling Easter candy by item share for the fourth year in a row.
Here’s the full Top 10:
Chocolate clearly dominates carts, but the presence of Sour Patch Kids, Starburst Jelly Beans, and Nerds shows that sour and fruity favorites still hold their own.
Reese’s Dominates — But Not Every State Agrees
Perhaps unsurprisingly, when we mapped the top-selling Easter candy by item share in each state, Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs topped the charts in 38 states, reinforcing its status as the undisputed MVP of Easter baskets.
However, 11 states (plus Washington, D.C.) opted for something else.
The Milk Chocolate Loyalists
States along both coasts as well as the Dakotas showed their love for Hershey’s Milk Chocolate as their top candy:
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Maryland
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
The Bunny Believers
In Hawai‘i and Maine, customers favored the seasonal classic Lindt Gold Bunny Milk Chocolate.
The Cup Crowd
And in Washington, D.C. and South Carolina, customers preferred Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups over the popular Easter egg-shaped version. Either way, it’s clear Reese’s peanut butter perfection is key for holiday enjoyment.
Where Jelly Beans and Chocolate Bunnies Shine
Beyond overall top candies, we also looked at how strongly certain Easter staples over-indexed in each state compared to the national average, and two classics stood out: jelly beans and chocolate bunnies.
The Jelly Bean Belt
Jelly beans surged nationally during Easter week, up 863% above their yearly average, but some states embraced them even more enthusiastically.
The biggest jelly bean fans were concentrated in the Midwest and Upper Plains:
- Iowa (39% over national average)
- North Dakota (37%)
- Minnesota (37%)
- Vermont (35%)
- Wisconsin (35%)
- Ohio (31%)
- Michigan (30%)
In these states, jelly beans made up a significantly larger share of candy purchases than the national average, reinforcing their status as an Easter essential.
Meanwhile, states like California (21% below the national average), Hawai‘i (22%), and D.C. (39%) purchased jelly beans at notably lower rates than the national average.
Chocolate Bunny Strongholds
Chocolate bunnies also saw clear regional differences. The biggest chocolate bunny enthusiasts included:
- Hawai‘i (68% above national average)
- Vermont (55%)
- Rhode Island (50%)
- Maine (50%)
- New Hampshire (31%)
In these states, chocolate bunnies made up a significantly higher share of candy purchases compared to the national average.
One of the more surprising findings was Hawai‘i topping the country for chocolate bunny purchases. The state typically under-indexes on highly seasonal purchases, so seeing it lead on such an iconic Easter item really stands out. What makes the trend even more interesting is that Hawai‘i ordered jelly beans less often than average — suggesting that in the Aloha State, chocolate bunnies are in and jelly beans are out.
On the other end of the spectrum, Utah (31% below the national average), D.C. (30%), and Nevada (25%) ordered chocolate bunnies the least often, showing that while bunnies may be iconic, they are not equally beloved everywhere.
Utah’s chocolate bunny demand also caught attention. The state is usually at the forefront of seasonal shopping trends, so its lower-than-average demand for chocolate bunnies is a notable departure. For a state that often embraces holiday moments, the inverse this year stands out.
Passover Prep: Seder Staples Surge
Looking at the week leading up to Passover (April 7-13, 2025), traditional Seder essentials rose sharply compared to their typical yearly share with matzah (+1,239%), matzo ball mixes (+673%), gefilte fish (+742%), and horseradish root (+1,120%).
Purchases of these key Passover staples follow a sharply seasonal pattern, with their most significant surge of the year occurring in the week leading up to Passover. Compared to their typical baseline, demand for these items skyrockets during the holiday, far outpacing any other point in the calendar year. While smaller lifts appear again around Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah, those increases are modest in comparison, underscoring Passover as the clear peak moment for these traditional foods.
Baskets, Blooms and Seder Tables Await
With both holidays fast approaching, customers are leaning into the traditions and seasonal favorites that define spring.
This story was produced by Instacart and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
