What is your favorite Valentine’s Day candy? Are you among the many who rush to stores to pick out an assortment of sweets for family or friends? Valentine’s Day has served not only as a holiday to remind our loved ones just how much we love them but also as a chance to justify eating more candy. In just the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, about 58 million pounds of chocolate were bought, and in the year leading up to Valentine’s Day about 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold in total. Despite the options of Valentine’s Day candy being essentially unlimited, is there a favorite candy that comes out on top consistently?
The answer to this question is yes: for the most part. Conversation hearts, otherwise known as Sweethearts have consistently risen to the top of Valentine’s candy sales, with their peak selling period only six weeks long. Although this might not seem like a long time, manufacturers prepare for this six-week period for months: 11 to be exact. Although Sweethearts Conversation Hearts has been the most popular for years, in 2019 the company experienced some turbulence; Because of new ownership and distribution problems, conversation hearts dipped in popularity and availability, with almost an almost 24% decrease in sales. Despite these hardships, Conversation Hearts returned to its former glory with sales looking more up to speed in 2022. But do Conversation Hearts really hold a large lead over other candies? The answer to this question is actually no: a shift in consumer behavior shows that Conversation Hearts hearts are barely winning over boxes of chocolate during Valentine’s Day. For example, a report done in 2023 showed that conversation candy hearts made up 10.2% of total candy sales, while boxes of chocolate came in at a close second of 10.1% of candy sales.
Conversation hearts and boxes of chocolates are not the only competitors, though. Between M&Ms and Hershey Kisses, the top spot seems like it could fall into either at this point. Although M&Ms have remained a steady lead, Hershey Kisses has seen a drastic increase in multiple states such as Oregon and Pennsylvania, knocking M&Ms as the number one candy per state. Along with this, Hershey Kisses have also taken a close lead over M&Ms for the first time because of its popularity in Kansas and New Jersey.
Although we can assign specific brands to top spots, top Valentine’s Day candy picks are relatively diverse regarding each state. For example, in a 2024 study done by CandyStore.com, Michigan was the only state to place Candy Corn as its top candy. More examples include Alabama’s 1st place candy as candy necklaces, while states such as Kentucky, New Mexico, and Wyoming chose chocolate roses. Besides this, heart-shaped boxes of chocolate were also significantly popular with states such as Ohio, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Indiana favoring this type of candy. Although not ranked number 1 in any state, Ghirardelli Gift Boxes this Valentine’s Day were popular in several of states for both 2nd and 3rd place. For Massachusetts specifically, conversation hearts were ranked the top candy with heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and chocolate hearts following in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. No matter how you celebrate Valentine’s Day, these sweets, along with many others, definitely make Valentine’s Day so special and memorable for many of us.
Which one is your favorite Valentine’s candy?
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