It’s the spice that comes at a price.
Every year, Americans eagerly await pumpkin spice season, but it turns out they’re often shelling out far more money for 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 a whopping 92% more.
After evaluating 116 grocery store and coffee retailer 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 biggest pumpkin spice tax, costing 92.2% more than their non-pumpkin alternative.
Target’s Chobani pumpkin spice oat milk was in second place, with a sale price 56.6% higher than the original oat milk.
Starbucks’ uber-popular pumpkin spice latte surprisingly doesn’t have the highest pumpkin spice tax out of the items analyzed, but the coffee chain’s iced pumpkin spice latte does cost 25.2% more than their non-pumpkin alternative.
Meanwhile, Blank Street Coffee’s iced pumpkin spice latte costs 55.3% more than their unflavored edition.
LendingTree’s chief credit analyst Matt Schulz said the research reveals that it’s important to consider all options while shopping for food.
“It’s all about comparison shopping,” he says. “Whether you’re talking about cars, mortgages, credit cards or pumpkin spice trail mix, it’s always good to shop around and take the time to compare prices. That may mean comparing among different stores, but it may also mean comparing among similar items in the same store.”
While Target was labeled as the worst offender by LendingTree, the study authors also noted that many of the retailer’s pumpkin spice products are generally well-priced compared to non-pumpkin alternatives — and six of the 10 products with the biggest negative pumpkin spice tax can also be found Target.
Target’s Chobani pumpkin spice coffee creamer costs 14.7% less than the vanilla coffee creamer, and Target’s Favorite Day pumpkin spice mini pretzels costs 12.3% less than the Favorite Day milk chocolate covered mini pretzels.
Meanwhile, Trader Joe’s has the product with the biggest negative pumpkin spice tax: The retailer’s Pumpkin and Spice snickerdoodle cookie mix costs 24.1% less than their Everything but the Kitchen Sink cookie mix.
On top of the pumpkin surcharge, food prices have been increasing in general, with Schulz saying the so-called “pumpkin spice tax” might force people to reevaluate their favorite fall indulgence.
“Even though 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 might be a bridge too far.”
And this year’s average “pumpkin spice tax” of 7.4% is actually the lowest in the history of LendingTree’s study. 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 urge to splurge on pumpkin spice spikes at the end of August — even though many major companies and brands started to serve up the flavor from July.
Previous data from restaurant technology provider SpotOn determined that 1,000 “pumpkin” menu items were added to menus across the U.S. in that month alone.
