Aussies set to spend $1.6mil on pumpkins they can’t eat this Halloween!

Sometimes you come across a bit of information that makes you just about fall off your chair. Here’s one: this week Australians are going to spend more than $1.6 million buying pumpkins to carve into jack-o-lanterns.

Yep, you heard right, $1.6 million! That’s 500,000kg of inedible pumpkin!

The reason is that in Australia, Halloween has now become the second biggest day of the year from a costume spend perspective, second only to Australia Day. 

Ten to 15 years ago you might have spotted two kids walking down the street dressed as ghouls, today it’s not unusual to find entire streets decked out in the scary gear. This is testament to just how big Halloween has become here.

On average, every Australian household will spend $80 on Halloween this year, with households in some Sydney suburbs spending up to $1000 on lollies!

Of course, this presents retailers and other small businesses with amazing moneymaking opportunities.

From running Halloween-based promotions to creating pop-up stores selling costumes, there is an increasing pot of Halloween gold that businesses should be trying to get their hands on! Though I’m not sure I’d go as far as one real estate agency, who set up a stall outside a house and handed out business cards to parents along with the lollies for the kids!