This weekend has a powerful meaning for Christians around the world, who will be gathering to celebrate the Easter holiday.

It’s a chance to pause and reflect, a chance to remember that, no matter how bleak things might seem, there’s always room for hope.

According to Statista, 81 percent of Americans say they will be celebrating Easter. That number, the report indicates, has remained pretty consistent across the past 15 years.

The low point during that period — 77 percent — came in 2020, while the high point — 83.1 percent — came in 2013. Last year, the total was 80 percent, which represented a slight increase from the 79 percent recorded in 2021.

There were 8,155 respondents used by the provider of market and consumer data with offices around the world, including New York City, to put together that survey.

No matter how you celebrate Easter, it’s likely candy will be included. According to the numbers compiled as part of the annual candystore.com Most Popular Easter Candy survey, Americans have spent around $3 billion on Easter candy. And that, according to the National Retail Federation, is more than greeting cards, decorations and flowers combined.

When you add up all of the numbers, you find that 87 percent of everyone who celebrates Easter will buy Easter candy — as will 33 percent of those who don’t celebrate Easter.

Candystore.com reports that there will be more than 90 million chocolate bunnies made this year, and more than 700 million Peeps purchased.

Certainly, jelly beans always have held an important place in Easter baskets, but this year will be different. That’s because there is a shortage of the traditional treat, especially in our region. It’s so bad that Sarris Candies did not make any of them this year. It seems that the war in Ukraine has led to a shortage of a special pectin that is a key ingredient in the beans made by the Cannonsburg-based company whose products can be found just a short drive away at the factory shop as well as local retailers, and are a staple of fundraising activities for many organizations throughout the Tri-State Area.

When it comes to candy stores and chocolate shops per capita, our region is among the best in the country — Pittsburgh ranks fourth in that category, according to WalletHub. Tied for first are New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu, the Washington, D.C.-based personal financial website reports.

That’s just one of the reasons why Pittsburgh ranks first on WalletHub’s Best Places to Celebrate Easter. The Tri-State Area sits far above Cleveland, which ranks 20th, and Columbus, which comes in at 79th.

Sarris is not alone — even Just Born, the candy company in Eastern Pennsylvania that is best known as the producer of Peeps, says it did not make jelly beans this year.

And, reports indicted Brach’s jelly beans were tough to find.

In case you have doubts about the popularity of jelly beans, candystore.com reports that if you were to line up end-to-end all of the jelly beans made for each Easter season, you would have a chain that would stretch around the world three times.

Buttered popcorn, the survey says, was the most popular jelly bean flavor across the United States this year. That’s the case in our region — buttered popcorn is the top flavor in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Black licorice comes in second in Ohio and Pennsylvania, while blueberry is second in West Virginia. Coming in third in Ohio and West Virginia is cinnamon, with blueberry finishing third in Pennsylvania.

When it comes to other candy, there’s not that much of a difference in what Tri-State Area residents are looking for. In Ohio, the top three picks are foil-wrapped chocolate eggs, Kinder eggs and the chocolate bunny. In West Virginia, the top three are foil-wrapped chocolate eggs, Cadbury Creme Eggs and Cadbury Mini Eggs. In Pennsylvania, the top three are Cadbury Creme Eggs, Peeps and Kinder Eggs.

Everyone has his or her own favorite candy, but, according to candystore.com, there are 10 which rank down at the bottom of the list. And the worst candy, according to the survey is Cadbury Creme Eggs. Second on that list are Peeps, with bunny corn (Easter candy corn), coming in at third, solid chocolate bunnies fourth, Oreo Creme Eggs fifth, the Sour Patch Kids white chocolate bunny sixth, marshmallow chicks and rabbits seventh, chocolate crosses eighth, Cheetos Sweetos cinnamon puffs ninth and generic jelly beans 10th.

But wherever there is a worst list, there also is a best list, and topping that chart is the Cadbury Mini Egg. Jelly Belly Gourmet jelly beans are second, Reese’s Peanut Butter eggs third, hollow chocolate bunnies fourth, Whoppers Robbins Eggs fifth, foil-wrapped chocolate eggs sixth, Mallow-top Resse’s Peanut Butter Eggs seventh, Kinder Joy Eggs eighth, Skittles-filled eggs ninth with Hershey’s fun-sized with Easter wrappers rounding out the top 10.

Whatever candy is your favorite, it’s something to sit back and savor while you enjoy the holiday.

(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)