It is spice that has a price.
Every year, Americans look forward to pumpkin spice season, but it turns out they’re often spending a lot more money on the beloved fall flavor.
A study by LendingTree has uncovered the “pumpkin spice tax,” revealing that pumpkin-flavored products cost an average of 7.4% more than non-pumpkin alternatives — with some items costing 92% more.
After evaluating 116 grocery stores and coffee retailers’ products this year, the team found that Target is the biggest offender of the pumpkin tax surcharge.
Target’s Favorite Day Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix had the highest pumpkin spice tax, costing 92.2% more than their non-pumpkin alternative.
Target’s Chobani Spiced Oat Milk was in second place, with a sale price 56.6% higher than the original oat milk.
Starbucks’ wildly popular Pumpkin Spice Latte surprisingly doesn’t have the highest Pumpkin Spice tax of the items analyzed, but the coffee chain’s Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte costs 25.2% more than their non-pumpkin alternative .
Meanwhile, Blank Street Coffee’s Pumpkin Spice Iced Latte costs 55.3% more than their unflavored edition.
LendingTree principal credit analyst Matt Schulz said the research reveals it’s important to consider all options when shopping for food.
“It’s about comparison shopping,” he says. “Whether you’re talking about cars, mortgages, credit cards or pumpkin spice mix, it’s always good to shop around and take the time to compare prices. This can mean comparing between different stores, but it can also mean comparing between similar items in the same store.”
While Target was labeled the worst offender by LendingTree, the study’s authors also noted that many of the retailer’s pumpkin spice products are generally well-priced compared to non-pumpkin alternatives — and six out of 10 products with The largest negative tax on pumpkin spice can also be found at Target.
Target’s Chobani Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer is 14.7% off less than Vanilla Coffee Creamer, and Target’s Favorite Day Pumpkin Spice Mini Pretzels cost 12.3% less than Favorite Day Chocolate Covered Mini Pretzels.
Meanwhile, Trader Joe’s has the product with the largest negative pumpkin spice tax: The retailer’s Pumpkin and Spice snickerdoodle cookie mix costs 24.1% less than the Everything But the Kitchen Sink cookie mix.
On top of the pumpkin addition, food prices have risen across the board, with Schulz saying the so-called “pumpkin spice tax” could force people to reevaluate their favorite fall treat.
“Although inflation has slowed overall, prices are still really high, squeezing people’s budgets and forcing them to prioritize their spending,” he said in a statement. “For some people, paying more for pumpkin-flavored items may be a bridge too far.”
And this year’s average “pumpkin spice tax” of 7.4% is actually the lowest in LendingTree’s study history. In 2020, the pumpkin spice tax was 8.8% and in 2022 it was 14.1%.
The study also analyzed Google Trends search data to find that the desire to splurge on pumpkin spice spikes at the end of August — even though many major companies and brands started featuring the flavor as early as July.
Previous data from restaurant technology provider SpotOn determined that 1,000 “pumpkin” menu items were added to menus across the US in that month alone.
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Image Source : nypost.com