By Christina Lin
Valentine’s Day is an eventful holiday that usually involves a lot of spending. 58 million pounds of chocolate are bought during Valentine’s Day week. Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, Valentine’s Day spendings on candy still managed to increase 2% despite a decrease in general spendings for the holiday’s celebrations. CandyStore.com has compiled sales data from the past 13 years from their own online store and other industry partners to determine the most popular Valentine’s Day candy by state.
For 2021, the Valentine’s Day candy that ranked number one spot for most states are Heart-Shaped Boxes of Chocolates (in 19 states), followed by M&M’s (in 8 states), and Conversation Hearts (in 5 states). Other popular Valentine’s Day candies include Hershey Kisses, Chocolate Hearts, Chocolate Roses, and Candy Necklaces.
Recent years have been difficult for Sweethearts conversation hearts candy. In 2019, their sales overall were down over 24% after switching owners. In 2020, they ran into some printing issues and the writings on a portion of the hearts were distorted and blurred. Some were blank, no words at all. They managed to climb back to 9.5% market share from 8% in 2019, and their new owner Spangler has been introducing new sayings on Sweethearts this year. There’s a good chance that the conversation hearts candy will make a comeback in 2021.
In 2020, M&M’s made gains in several states throughout the country, obtaining new number one spots in Oregon and North Dakota. Since the introduction of Cupid’s Message M&M’s in 2017, there has been a rise in M&M’s sales for Valentine’s Day. Cupid’s Mix of Valentine’s Day colored M&M’s has also been well received, and the reintroduction of White Cheesecake M&M’s helped boost sales as well.
To read more, visit: https://www.candystore.com/blog/holidays/valentines-candy-popular-states/