The North American pumpkin spice season has earned a heady peak, with a gourd shattering weight records in eastern Canada.
On September 13, 2025, a half-tonne specimen won the Mammoth Pumpkin Stake at the Spencerville Fair in Johnstone, Ontario.
18 year-old Noah Devisser scooped the winning prize after presenting his 508-kilo pumpkin, smashing the existing record of 478 kg.
According to Devisser, the produce was gaining 20 kg daily before he reduced water intake to overcome growth cracks, which paid off.
Like pumpkin spice with its roots in historical cuisine, giant pumpkins trace their history to World Fairs.
At the 1893 Chicago World Fair, for instance, the heaviest gourd was 150 kg – and it came from Ontario.
Beforehand in 1857, the U.S.’ naturalist and author Henry David Thoreau had grown a 45-kg squash that initiated weighty cravings.
Unit weights also inform American wholesale pumpkin sales at an average $192 per 1000 pounds while retail price terms are per piece.
Pumpkin Spice in 2025
History aside, pumpkin spice is actually not much about pumpkins but rather nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon condiments.
Even this year, pumpkins will only be adding only a tiny pie to the menu for all else is spicy dessert lattes.
The ingredients go along with cakes, milk lattes and cookies, all with the signature scent of spices.
In 2025, the attention is turning into the health nature of ingredients, beginning with cinnamon for its immunity properties.
Nutmeg, on the other hand, is an expensive seed rich in antioxidants that fight inflammation.
Ginger in its part is a medicinal tonic against stomach upsets and is good for lowering bad cholesterol.
No wonder then that people in the United States spend almost a billion dollars each year on pumpkin spice. And in Canada, the main focus is on celebrating the size of the pie part of this delectable food. Likewise, the statistics below explore pumpkins rather than the spicy menu.
North America Pumpkin Statistics
North America (including Mexico), along with China, together account for more than 50% of the annual global pumpkin output. Canada and the United States harvest theirs between August and September each year. During this time, folks in the United States spend around $800 million in just one pumpkin-related food, namely pumpkin spice.
In 2020, China topped world production of squash family fruits at 7 million tonnes. In the top 10 were North American sources, with the U.S. at 1.2 million tonnes, Canada 0.4 million tonnes and Mexico 0.3 million tonnes. By 2022, the United States was averaging over 1.025 million tonnes, according to the FAOSTAT.
In Canada, the production monopoly is with Norfolk County in Ontario Province at over 38% of the national output (2021). With 4,393 acres, Norfolk in other words represented a third of all 11,569 acres under pumpkins in Canada in 2021. Two decades earlier in 2001, Canada had a total zucchini, pumpkin and squash acreage of 5,700 hectares, per Statistics Canada.
The U.S. in its part grows the bulk of its pumpkins in Illinois, which boasts 15,400 acres (2023). Coming near are CA, MI, IN, PA and WA that average 2,800-6,500 acres apiece. Although these six states are the major sources of the gourds, cultivation is prevalent countrywide.
In terms of earnings, producers in Canada generated around C$22 million ($15.9 million) from pumpkins in 2001. American producers in the top 6 states meanwhile earned $132 million in 2021, which increased to $141 million in 2023.