Halloween in the QSR world is no longer just about spooky packaging and themed desserts it’s become a strategic commercial window where brands tightly synchronize menu pricing, app engagement, fandom IP collaborations, and walk-in incentives to capture short-cycle traffic spikes.
This year’s industry behavior shows a clear playbook emerging:
value-anchored offers to protect traffic + themed SKUs to create social heat.
And when layered with precise price moves, the Halloween period is increasingly turning into a micro-pricing test bed for upcoming holiday pricing.
Using ITSYS’ proprietary pricing data collected across 10 major U.S. states, here’s how leading chains calibrated their price strategy from last Halloween (Oct-24) to this season (Oct-25).
This analysis reflects average price movement across each brand’s core menu categories and segments.
🍩 Dunkin’
Dunkin’ executed a beverage-led premium ramp, with category pricing elasticity enabling double-digit YoY expansion.
Illinois and New Jersey led with ~15.4% gains, rising from $4.46→$5.15 and $4.35→$5.01. New York followed $4.48→$5.09 (~13.8%). Florida and North Carolina rose ~16%–17%, and Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas tracked ~14%–17%, supported by flavor innovation and beverage-mix strength. California moderated at $6.90→$6.57 (~-4.8%), reflecting price sensitivity in high-frequency urban markets.
This pricing confidence is supported by festive novelty SKUs like Spider-Web Donuts, which drive impulse morning traffic and justify premium positioning during seasonal demand spikes.
🍔 Wendy’s
Across burgers, value sandwiches, combos, and beverages, Wendy’s showed mixed movement: In California, Wendy’s average price shifted from $6.90 in Oct-24 to $6.57 in Oct-25 (~-4.8%), signaling selective value positioning.
Florida and New Jersey held modest lifts from $6.31→$6.44 (~+2.1%) and $6.27→$6.31 (~+0.5%), while New York eased from $6.57→$6.35 (~-3.3%) amid urban price pressure.
Washington saw the largest correction $6.38→$5.84 (~-8.5%), while Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania trended ~-2% to -6%, reinforcing Wendy’s tactical value strategy during peak seasonal competition.
The chain compensated for lower pricing with cultural activation led by the Wendy’s × Wednesday collab, designed to tap Gen-Z nostalgia and push app engagement while protecting volume through affordable bundles.
🌯 Chipotle
Chipotle delivered the most dramatic menu evolution, driven by Build-Your-Own Protein bowls and premium entrée mix upgrades introducing larger ticket opportunities while aligning with protein-seeking consumer behavior.
California soared from $7.51→$22.15 (~+194.9%), and New York from $7.71→$22.71 (~+194.6%), reflecting heavy premium adoption.
Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio posted ~190%–195% YoY surges, while Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina advanced from ~$6.85–$6.95 → ~$16.99–$18.80 (~145%–175%). Washington followed with $7.04→$19.60 (~+178%).
However, Chipotle’s tactical focus wasn’t pricing up instead, it re-introduced a $6 walk-in Halloween burrito/bowl offer, signaling a deliberate strategy to drive in-store surge traffic and reactivate value-seeking segments ahead of holiday season price resets.
👑 Burger King
Burger King drove a menu-mix upgrade cycle supported by its Halloween novelty lineup (Vampire Nuggets, Mummy Fries) and strategic entree tiering.
California moved from $6.47→$7.51 (~+16.1%), while New York jumped $5.60→$7.85 (~+40.3%). New Jersey and Illinois followed with ~28%–37% lifts, and North Carolina led with $4.95→$7.39 (~+49.3%). Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington observed ~22%–35% structural re-pricing, as BK balanced fun seasonal products with longer-term basket value strategy.
Despite this inflationary shift, the chain counter-balanced sticker shock through hyper-visual LTOs like Mummy Fries and Vampire Nuggets, engineered to drive viral pickup and social impressions effectively trading novelty for perceived value.
👻 This Year’s Halloween LTO Pulse
- Wendy’s × Wednesday collab push + digital-first offers
- Chipotle $6 walk-in Halloween deal (return-to-store footfall focus)
- Burger King “Trick-or-Heat” stack Mummy Fries, Vampire Nuggets
- Dunkin’ Spider-Web Donuts & fall beverage tie-ins
LTOs are no longer novelty, they are traffic engines tied to loyalty rewards, in-app redemption, and seasonal mood capital
🧠 Industry Insight
Across the board, QSRs are moving toward an LTO-driven value equation, where pricing headroom is protected by cleverly layered promotions, IP tie-ins, and limited-time formats.
Halloween continues to evolve as a precision-testing window for elasticity and traffic and brands leveraging data, not guesswork, are emerging stronger.
Happy Halloween & strong Q4 performance!