Halloween may have trick-or-treating and Valentine's Day may be synonymous with boxes of chocolates, but Easter is the day that leaves candy companies salivating.



In the week before Easter last year, Americans bought $823 million in creme-filled eggs, chocolate rabbits and colored marshmallow Peeps, according to Nielsen data. That narrowly beats out Halloween as the most lucrative week of the year for candy retailers.

Looking at weight alone, Americans purchased 146 million pounds of candy in the week before Easter. That's nearly half a pound of candy for every man, woman and child in the country, or the weight of more than 11,000 African bush elephants.

Costumed kids seem to be consuming more candy by the pound, but their neighbors are handing out some of the cheapest candy — several dollars per pound cheaper than the fancy chocolates for significant others on Valentine's Day. As for Easter, the red line in the chart seems to show retailers selling leftovers cheap the week after the holiday.