See the results and check out footage from across the country in the Idaho Potatoes Press Room: LINK
EAGLE, Idaho (November 1, 2026) — Halloween is the one night of the year when candy rules. Chocolate bars, gummy bears, peanut butter cups. But could a potato actually compete? The Idaho Potato Commission decided to find out.
On October 31, 15 households across 13 states, from Alaska to Massachusetts, participated in a national Trick or Tater experiment. The rules: Trick-or-treaters had to choose between Halloween candy and a genuine Idaho potato.
To keep score, the Commission developed the “Idaho Trick or Tater Indicator”, an experiment to test whether America’s love of Idaho potatoes could rival its love of Halloween candy.
The verdict? Candy had competition.
In Pennsylvania, longtime Halloween potato-giver Patrick Foy handed out 200 pounds of Idaho potatoes in just 97 minutes, running out while candy remained. For over two decades, Foy has offered trick-or-treaters a candy-or-potato choice, using Idaho potatoes from the very beginning.
In Fargo, North Dakota, Idaho potatoes beat candy by more than two to one at Kayla Dornfeld’s home. Trick-or-treaters chose 137 potatoes compared with just 67 pieces of candy.
Candy held its Halloween crown at first-time participant Kinsey Amezcua’s home in Idaho, with 73 takers compared with 28 for potatoes. Still, more than one in four trick-or-treaters picked a spud—a turnout that surprised even the Idahoan. With everyone having a blast, she’s eager to do it again next year.
And the numbers tell only part of the story. Kids held potatoes overhead like trophies, shouted “POTATOES!” and ran down neighborhood streets spreading the word that someone was handing out spuds.
This year’s Idaho potato-versus-candy experiment brought together a colorful cast of participants: Alaska pastor Matt Schultz, whose home is known as the “potato house”; Nebraska emo rocker Branden Pierce Sahs, better known as “King Pumpkin Man”; Colorado children’s author and illustrator Kaz Windness, who drew faces on her potatoes and offered them up for adoption as pets; and a California family whose participants ranged from 87-year-old Great Grandpa Norm, who worked on the Apollo missions, to Terri, their desert tortoise
The Idaho Potato Commission supplied participating households with Idaho potatoes and Halloween candy. The choices and reactions were up to the trick-or-treaters.
Want in next year? Visit IdahoPotato.com/trick-or-tater to share your story and join the 2027 Trick or Tater team.
About the Idaho Potato Commission
Established in 1937, IPC is a state agency responsible for promoting and protecting the famous “Grown in Idaho®” seal, a federally registered certification mark that assures consumers they are purchasing genuine, top-quality Idaho® potatoes. Idaho’s growing season of warm days and cool nights, ample mountain-fed irrigation, and rich volcanic soil give Idaho potatoes their unique texture, taste, and dependable performance. These ideal growing conditions differentiate them from potatoes grown in other states. For more information, visit IdahoPotato.com.
AP CONTENT SERVICES/IDAHO POTATO COMMISSION
EDITORIAL USE ONLY
MULTICITY - OCTOBER 31, 2026
**SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES**
- Lancaster, PA - Patrick Foy: [00:00:09] So the wife called me up said, tonight's Halloween, I got to work, go to Costco and buy the candy. So my mission was and I'm driving there and my Irish mind is saying, it's trick or treat. Why is it always just treat? So besides the candy, I bought 75 pounds of baking potatoes and I decided it was a choice. You had to pick one. And you couldn't have both.
- Lancaster, PA - Patrick Foy: [00:00:37] It's always been Idaho potatoes for me because you come up around potatoes and everything that you make with potatoes. That's just better when it's Idaho potatoes.
- Lancaster, PA - Patrick Foy: [00:00:51] It's just about having fun. When you live in a neighborhood full of children as an, as an adult, the thing you can do is engage with the children and you don't engage with them like adults, you're trying to have fun.
- Patrick Foy’s home in Lancaster, PA
- Idaho Potato ‘Trick or Tater’ Branding
- Pleasant Valley boxes of Potatoes - 200lbs
- Official ‘Idaho Trick or Tater Innovator’ Certificate
- Patrick Foy on his porch
- Patrick Foy giving kids options of candy or potato
- Fargo, ND - Kayla Dornfeld: [00:02:29] Okay, so we're doing something a little different at our house this Halloween.
- Fargo, ND - Kayla Dornfeld: [00:02:34] We're partnering with the Idaho Potato Commission and tonight, our trick or treaters get to choose between candy and an actual potato. We're doing something special called Trick or Tater! You can choose a potato! You can do the potato!
- Fargo, ND - Kayla Dornfeld: [00:03:04] Final count. People who chose potatoes, seriously, 137. People who chose candy 62. Potatoes win in 2026.
- Schererville, IN - Gina Sullivan: [00:03:18] Last year I handed out potatoes and the kids loved it so much and when I shared it online Idaho Potatoes contacted me and sponsored our whole trick-or-tater this Halloween.
- Schererville, IN - Gina Sullivan: [00:03:28] Buddy buddy who do you think is going to win the potatoes or the candy? You can pick a potato or candy you can pick. So far the potatoes are halfway gone if not more. And I'd say more people took potatoes than candy. Trick or Tater, happy Halloween!
- Omaha, NEB - Branden Pierce Sahs: [00:03:55] We are ready for trick-or-tater let's go. We got toss the potato into the ghost game. And if you get a potato in, then you get sweet prize. We've got candy. We've potatoes in the potato bag. We've temporary potato tattoos. And we've got, you know, Spuddy Buddy himself. And as for me, I'm the potato king.
- Idaho Falls, ID - Kinsey Amezcua: [00:04:38] We have officially started Trick-O-Tater. So far we've had nine pick candy and four pick potatoes. Stay tuned and we will see what the rest pick!
- Idaho Falls, ID - Kinsey Amezcua: [00:04:58] The results are in. We had such a fun evening. It was so fun seeing how excited everyone got when they saw the potatoes. They thought it was so funny. And I was surprised how many actually picked them for living in Idaho, because we are surrounded by potatoes here. 73 picked candy and 28 picked potatoes. So more than a third of people ended up picking potatoes. And I feel like it was really a hard decision for people. So I definitely want to do it again next year. I feel people loved it and we had a blast.
- Sugarland, TX - Joy Green - kids walking up to Joy Green’s home to trick or treat
- Kids given option of candy or potatoes
- Kids walking away with potatoes
- Thornton, CO - Kaz Windness - quick shots of their Halloween set up for Trick or Tater
- Kaz Windness giving kids option of candy or potatoes
- Potato adoption package for kids to decorate their potato
- East Lansing, MI - Kelsey Padgett drone shots of their home with halloween decor
- Kids ringing doorbell trick or treating - kids walking away with potatoes
- Idaho Potato Sack next to candy
30 October 2026
