DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission.

We’ve got some bad news for trick-or-treaters this year.

We’re getting closer and closer to Halloween, which means Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is almost here (it begins on August 12th) and we’re almost to the premiere of Hocus Pocus 2 on September 30th. But if Halloween mostly means CANDY to you, it might not be your best Halloween ever.

According to CNN Business, Hershey CEO Michele Buck warned, “We will not be able to fully meet consumer demand” for Halloween this year. That means the Halloween candy aisle might be emptier than usual.

Supply chain issues have been affecting many companies over the past few years and the pandemic reportedly led to a higher demand for candy. Although Hershey has seen a large sales growth, they have had to make choices resulting in certain sacrifices, and they can’t manufacture both regular sweets and special Halloween products.

Buck noted that Hershey has “a strategy of prioritizing everyday on-shelf availability,” and they plan to add more manufacturing lines over the next few years, but that means you might have to choose Mars products over Hershey sweets this Halloween (before everything sells out!). The good news is — you don’t NEED to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters!

With many children and families living with allergies, handing out candy doesn’t work for everyone, and there are lots of fun alternatives that won’t break the bank. At Target, we found these fun Eyeball Bouncy Balls that come with 60 “eyeballs” for $18.99 (on sale from $29.99!).

These balls are made of non-toxic elastic for the best bounce. What kid doesn’t want a bouncy eyeball to play with? Depending on your neighborhood, 60 “eyeballs” could be plenty for handing out to trick-or-treaters!

Order the 60-Count Eyeball Bouncy Balls here!

If eyeballs aren’t your thing, check out this Glow Sticks Pack for only $7! Each pack comes with 57 glow sticks that come in 5 different colors and sizes, and they also come with connectors, cords, and clips so you can make them into necklaces or bracelets.

For only $7 for each pack, you can probably stock up on quite a few glow sticks to hand out to trick-or-treaters!

Get the Glow Sticks Packs right here!

Over on Amazon, you can pick up a 48-Pack of Halloween Pencils for $8.10! Each number 2 pencil comes with a fun Halloween print with green or purple erasers.

At only $.17 per pencil, that’s not a bad deal for a fun trick-or-treat item that isn’t candy.

Find the 48-Pack of Halloween Pencils here!

This 50-Piece Set of Halloween Stamps features 25 different designs for $12.99 (on sale from $19.99).

Designs include pumpkins, ghosts, mummies, Frankenstein, witches, vampires, reapers, and more! They are safety test approved and non-toxic.

Find the 50-Piece Halloween Assorted Stamps here!

If stickers are more your jam, you can grab these 100 Sheets of Halloween Stickers for $14.97. Altogether you’re looking at a total of 1,200 stickers (each sheet comes with 10 stickers).

There are a variety of sticker designs available featuring cute candy corn, cats, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, and many more!

Find the 100 Sheets of Halloween Stickers here!

And finally, if you REALLY want to be the cool neighbor on Halloween, hand out Play-Doh! This 42-Pack of Play-Doh comes with 42 different 1-ounce colors of Play-Doh, and right now you can get it on sale for $13.98 (down from $16.99).

There are tons of colors in this pack meant to make any number of trick-or-treaters happy. In some situations, Play-Doh > candy.

Find the 42-Pack of Play-Doh here!

So if you can’t find candy this Halloween season, get creative and try something else! Keep following DFB for more Halloween news and updates!

5 Disney Halloween bags you need for spooky season!

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Do you ever hand out non-candy items to trick-or-treaters? Tell us in the comments!

The post Candy Shortage at Hershey Means You’ll Need Trick-or-Treating Alternatives first appeared on the disney food blog.