Fall is right here, and this marks the unofficial starting of pumpkin spice season (though these beloved autumn-themed merchandise hit retailers on the finish of summer season). Scrumptious drinks and attractive treats flavored with the massive, rounded orange-yellow squash, all created to fulfill these pumpkin-loving style buds.
Nonetheless yummy these meals and drinks may be, up to now, they price you further bucks. MagnifyMoney, a private finance web site owned by LendingTree, carried out a examine in 2022 that discovered customers are paying extra within the type of a “pumpkin spice tax.” They clarify that “pumpkin spice tax” is a “demand-based pricing technique the place retailers mark up the value for a pumpkin-flavored merchandise.” That’s proper, you might be paying extra for that pumpkin cake combine or PSL versus one thing with out the addition of pumpkin.
So, how a lot is the common “pumpkin spice tax”? In accordance with the examine, clients paid a median of 14.1% extra for the pumpkin spice-flavored model of an merchandise in 2022; this determine is throughout 80 analyzed grocery and low merchandise from six retailers. In contrast to a couple years prior, this can be a sharp enhance: the common pumpkin spice tax was 8.8% in 2020 (MagnifyMoney didn’t conduct the examine in 2021).
You might surprise, what did the examine discover is the most important pumpkin spice-related markup? That may be pretzels. For instance, Dealer Joe’s Pumpkin Spiced Teeny Tiny Pretzels price 161.1% greater than its Honey Wheat Pretzel Sticks — 50 cents an oz versus 19 cents an oz, respectively.
Will the “pumpkin spice tax” rise or fall in 2023? We don’t know but, however we hope you take pleasure in the entire baked items, lattes, dips, snacks, and extra merchandise throughout this cozy, foliage-filled time of 12 months.
