GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — It’s the most popular time of year for candy sales and Barry “Candy Man” Phillips knows just about everything there is to know about the sweet treats.

As the candy category manager for SpartanNash, Phillips’ job is to choose all the candy that gets stocked at stores owned by SpartanNash. The position requires him to do a lot of research on trends to make sure the candy he’s ordering will sell. 

“Kids continue to love anything sour. Gummies, the sour flavors — and the stronger the sour, the better for the kids. They absolutely love it,” Phillips said. “What’s always out there is the regular core items that the kids like: The Snickers, the Twix, the Milky Way, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They continue to love those items as well.”

Phillips, who was inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame in 2021, said his favorite candy is the classic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. 

Many brands, he said, don’t often make changes to their traditional recipes, but there are a couple he recommends you keep an eye out for:

“If you walk into our D&W stores, our Family Fare stores, our Forest Hills Foods stores, you will see Snickers Pecan. This is the hottest item out there on the market,” he said. “Very good tasting piece. Not too sweet, it’s the perfect item that’s out there.”

Phillips added that starting Nov. 17, SpartanNash will be the first in the country to launch Peanut Butter & Jelly M&M’s.

“Customers will be going crazy over it,” he assured.

The candy man also knows a thing or two about prices. After cocoa hit an all-time high in April (linked to crop disease in South African), there is some concern customers could see those higher costs reflected in chocolate.

“We’re upset, but we’re so happy that we were able to purchase all of our goods for Halloween 2024 back in March, April of 2024 … so it didn’t get hit by all those cost increases,” Phillips explained. “You’re going to see in 2025 a lot more cost increases in chocolate.”

For now, he encourages customers to hunt for deals like buy-two-get-one-free bags at many SpartanNash stores, or stop by after Halloween to grab what’s left of heavily discounted items.