Valentine’s Day celebrants might scrimp on roses, wine, and greeting cards, but when it comes to Valentine’s Day candy all bets are off.
Consumers are expected to spend more than $1.8 billion on Valentine’s Day candy this year, according to CandyStore.com.
Last year, the National Retail Federation predicted a slight drop off in Valentine’s Day spending in all but one category. You guessed it: candy.
Here is an interactive map of the favorite Valentine’s Day candy in every state that CandyStore.com created.
Using sales data from the past 11 years from its online bulk candy store and industry partners, CandyStore.com has compiled sales data to determine the most popular Valentine’s Day candy. The map above illustrates the favorite candy in each state. The results are pretty interesting.
Conversation hearts have been rising in popularity for years on Valentine’s Day, but they were always stuck behind those heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. That all changed last year when conversation hearts rose above the heart boxes to claim the top spot.
That trend has continued this year, as conversation hearts stretch their lead. That trend will not continue in 2019, however.
Conversation hearts will drop by more than 80 percent. More on that here.
M&M’s cracked more top 3 spots in 2018 than the previous year. Since introducing the Cupid’s Message M&M’s in 2017, the candy company reports seeing a rise in M&M’s sales for the big day.
Though M&M’s did not claim any new No. 1 spots for any states, it did claim three more No. 2 spots and five more No. 3 spots. It’s not easy to crack the top three with conversation hearts and heart-shaped boxes taking up so many spots. Nice work M&M’s.
Perhaps the limited re-introduction of White Cheesecake M&M’s will help boost them even more for the 2019 season, according to Clair Robins, who writes for the candy company.
Here some quick facts for Valentine’s Day.
- 43 percent of people said they will buy themselves a box of chocolates this year.
- 58 million pounds of chocolate are bought during the holiday week.
- The peak selling period for conversation hearts is only six weeks long.
- It takes manufacturers 11 months to produce enough for those six weeks.
- Vodka infused with candy remained popular with conversation hearts last year.
- Children receive 39 percent of all the holiday candy and gifts.