Sweet treats might sometimes give you a toothache, but their rise in price over the last year may also give you a headache. Candy and chewing-gum prices rose 12.2% in January over the previous year, after rising 11.6% in December, according to government data released Tuesday. Similarly, sugar and sugar substitutes were 13.5% more expensive last month.
That’s even as inflation continues to ease. Consumer prices were up 6.4% in January, a slight drop from 6.5% in December 2022 and from 9% in summer 2022, which marked a 40-year-high. Annual food inflation, however, hit 10.1% in January. “Increased cost of labor, manufacturing, shipping, warehousing and energy — along with disruptions in supply chains — are all responsible for why candy is more expensive for Valentine’s Day,” said Dallin Hatch, a data expert for Pattern, an e-commerce analytics company, in an email to MarketWatch. The rise in sugar prices is directly linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Curt Covington, senior director of partner relations at AgAmerica Lending, a national agriculture and infrastructure lender. As the war disrupted corn imports, the demand for domestic corn soared — and also pushed up those prices. Corn syrup goes into a variety of cand …