Last year, Covid-19 struck Valentine’s Day hard, according to the National Retail Federation. Spending was down more than 20% from the previous year’s all-time high. People were struggling and there was a once in a lifetime worldwide pandemic. It was understandable.
This year, things are picking back up. The NRF is expecting a near-record breaking year with consumer spending for Valentine’s Day up nearly 10% and reaching $23.9B.
Candy buying rate is expected to be at a new record high with 56% of consumers planning to buy candy for Valentine’s Day. Expected candy sales volume at $2.2B would be runner up only to 2020 ($2.4B).
Since we love data and candy is a fun and relevant holiday topic, we put together a fun and snappy looking interactive map. Using sales data from the past 14 years from our online bulk candy store and industry partners, CandyStore.com has compiled sales data to determine the most popular Valentine’s Day candy. Hover over a state and see which Valentine’s Day candy they favor. Some of the results are surprising, but mostly it’s conversation hearts or boxes of chocolate.
Speaking of, here are some of the key takeaways from our data.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Conversation Hearts Win Streak Ends
It’s been a rough couple years for Sweathearts conversation hearts candy. After Necco got ripped apart and its brands sent off to various bidders, Sweathearts’ new owner took more time than anticipated to get their feet under them. In fact, they weren’t available in 2019 at all. As the most popular brand of conversation hearts (Brach’s makes them as well), the sales of conversation hearts overall were down over 24%.
Then last year in 2020, they were back but only a limited supply was available. As new owner Spangler hurried to get them out, they ran into some printing issues and the cute little sayings witten on them were distorted and blurred. Quite a few of them were blank – no words at all.
Still, conversation hearts did make a comeback last year from 2019’s low. They climbed back to 9.5% market share from 8% in 2019. Although they didn’t manage to unseat the new top candy, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, they weren’t exactly playing with a full squad, were they?
With Spangler introducing all new sayings on Sweethearts this year, look for conversation hearts to make a heroic comeback in 2021. That’s something we can all root for in 2021.
M&M’s keeps moving up
With conversation hearts down, M&M’s picked up some of the slack last year. They made gains in several states throughout the country, landing new #1 spots in Oregon and North Dakota.
Since introducing the Cupid’s Message M&M’s in 2017, we’ve seen 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 very popular. The re-introduction of White Cheesecake M&M’s helped boost them as well.
Cupid Corn Fading Out?
Last year cupid corn hung around and stayed popular when it had dropped in popularity for other holidays. Well, it’s time has now come. Cupid corn dropped a fair amount in 2020. And even fell one spot to #3 in Michigan. And we know how they love the candy corn.
So, which Valentine’s Day candy does your state love the most? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Here is a table with each state’s winners:
| State Name | Top Vday Candy 2022 | 2nd Place 2022 | 3rd Place 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Cinnamon Bears |
| Arkansas | Hershey Kisses | Conversation Hearts | Ghirardelli Gift Box |
| California | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | M&M's |
| Florida | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Chocolate Roses |
| Montana | Chocolate Hearts | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates |
| Nebraska | Cupid Corn | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Chocolate Hearts |
| Tennessee | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | Wild Berry Skittles |
| Vermont | M&M's | Conversation Hearts | Candy Necklaces |
| West Virginia | Cupid Corn | Conversation Hearts | Candy Necklaces |
| Oregon | M&M's | M&M's | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates |
| North Dakota | M&M's | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates |
| Connecticut | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | M&M's | Conversation Hearts |
| Idaho | Conversation Hearts | M&M's | Hershey Kisses |
| Kentucky | Chocolate Roses | Conversation Hearts | M&M's |
| North Carolina | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | Cupid Corn |
| Colorado | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | M&M's |
| Michigan | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Cupid Corn | Conversation Hearts |
| Ohio | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Cupid Corn | Conversation Hearts |
| Georgia | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Chocolate Roses | Conversation Hearts |
| New Jersey | M&M's | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts |
| Minnesota | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | M&M's | Conversation Hearts |
| Arizona | M&M's | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts |
| Kansas | M&M's | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Ghirardelli Gift Box |
| Texas | Hershey Kisses | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts |
| Alabama | Candy Necklaces | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates |
| Maine | Chocolate Hearts | Ghirardelli Gift Box | Conversation Hearts |
| Rhode Island | Chocolate Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts |
| Wyoming | Chocolate Roses | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates |
| Illinois | Conversation Hearts | Chocolate Roses | M&M's |
| Wisconsin | Conversation Hearts | Hershey Kisses | Ghirardelli Gift Box |
| Hawaii | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Candy Necklaces |
| Louisiana | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | M&M's |
| Missouri | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Hershey Kisses |
| Oklahoma | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Chocolate Roses |
| South Carolina | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Ghirardelli Gift Box |
| Virginia | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Cupid Corn |
| Mississippi | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | Chocolate Roses |
| New Mexico | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Chocolate Roses | Candy Necklaces |
| Washington | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Chocolate Roses | Conversation Hearts |
| Indiana | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | Chocolate Roses |
| Massachusetts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Chocolate Hearts | Conversation Hearts |
| Nevada | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | Chocolate Roses |
| New Hampshire | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | Chocolate Hearts |
| New York | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | Cinnamon Bears |
| Washington, D.C. | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts | Cinnamon Bears |
| Delaware | Hershey Kisses | Conversation Hearts | Chocolate Hearts |
| South Dakota | Hershey Kisses | Conversation Hearts | Chocolate Hearts |
| Utah | Hershey Kisses | M&M's | Conversation Hearts |
| Iowa | M&M's | Conversation Hearts | Ghirardelli Gift Box |
| Maryland | M&M's | Conversation Hearts | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates |
| Pennsylvania | M&M's | Heart-Shaped Box of Chocolates | Conversation Hearts |