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A national candy company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, just days before Halloween. Candy Warehouse submitted a petition to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, on Friday, Oct. 24, reporting higher liabilities than assets and an inability to pay its debts. The online distributor, which operates as CandyWarehouse.com, is based in Sugar Land, Texas. According to federal court documents, the company has $100,000 to $500,000 in assets against liabilities that range from $1 million to $10 million. Candy Warehouse president Mimi Kwan said in a statement that the company is seeking to restructure its debts and remain in business “serving our customers and partners long into the future.” “It is important to emphasize that this is a reorganization, not a liquidation,” Kwan said. “It’s been a challenge to keep up in today’s market — the pandemic hit us hard, and we haven’t fully recovered due to rising costs and ongoing inflation,” Kwan added. “Competing with big-box companies like Amazon and Walmart is never easy, but we’ve been fortunate to have loyal customers who believe in shopping small and supporting independent businesses. Their encouragement has kept us going.” Besides competition and inflation, candy companies like Hershey have been hit hard by increased cocoa prices due to a global shortage. Severe weather conditions and crop diseases have impacted West Africa, where 70 percent of the world’s cocoa is produced, causing the cost of the key chocolate ingredient to rise from about $2,000 per ton over the past few decades to around $12,000 per ton in 2024. According to NBC, CandyWarehouse.com is a small, woman-owned, minority family business that started in 1998 and offers “bulk candy shipped fast.” Party supplies, popcorn, soda, and a variety of candies and chocolates can be purchased and shipped directly to consumers or businesses like candy shops, hotels, hospitals, theme parks, zoos and other retailers. Kwan told USA Today that she intentionally waited to file for bankruptcy until after the company fulfilled all of its Halloween commitments.
