Consumers are indulging in their favorite sweet treats this Valentine’s Day despite higher chocolate and food prices, while food and beverage companies are vying for consumers’ hearts — and wallets — with seasonal twists on iconic indulgences.
Most Americans (91%) celebrate Valentine’s Day with chocolate and candy either for themselves or a significant other, according to data from the National Confectioners Association (NCA).
Three-fourths of consumers say a heart-shaped box of chocolate is the classic Valentine’s Day treat, but shoppers eat the chocolate in different ways, NCA reported.
However, chocolate prices are up 5.2% year-over-year across grocery shelves nationwide, according to Datasembly. Despite overall promotional activity decreasing over the past two months, “buy more, save more” and temporary price reductions are providing some relief to consumers, averaging 27.7% and 28.9% savings, respectively, Datasembly reported.
Consumers rely on brick-and-mortar stores but search online for inspiration
Shoppers “are hitting the stores” to find deals on candy and find inspiration for holiday gifts, said Melissa Myres, insights director at 84.51°.
More than half (53%) of consumers are turning to physical mass retail stores and 36% and 33% are searching online or at grocery stores, respectively, according to 84.51° data of 278 Kroger shoppers.
“A primary driver of this behavior could be due to them saying that they are planning on purchasing less expensive, simple gifts for those on their list — chocolates, cards, flowers,” said Myres.
She added, “While almost one in three shoppers tell us they do not plan on celebrating Valentine’s Day this year, 35% say they will be buying for children and 51% for a spouse or significant other.”
2025 V-day launches: From heart-shaped ice cream sandwiches to a trunk of candy
Candy and snack makers rolled out seasonal favorites as well as variations on classics for the occasion as consumers seek the right amount of sweet and affordable. This year’s seasonal launches include:
- Sweethearts turn to AI to take relationships to the next stage: The Spangler Candy Company is using AI to allow consumers to share their love for one another with iconic Valentine’s Day candy Sweethearts. This year, Sweethearts candies will include messages like “Marry Me,” Move In" or “4EVER EVER?” that will link to marriage-related websites, movers and a website to order heart-shaped headstones, respectively.
- Brach’s goes global with conversation hearts: Sweethearts’ competitor Brach’s is inspiring the traveler at heart with its conversation hearts. Brach’s Conversation Hearts Go Global includes 30 sentimental expressions in 13 languages. Additionally, the candy maker brought back Tiny, Large and Wisecrack Conversation Hearts and seasonal varieties.
- YumEarth is all hearts with seasonal packaging: Organic snack and gummy brand YumEarth rolled out a series of Valentine’s Day-themed packaging for its various lollipops, gummy hearts and candies. Individual portion packs of its snacks feature a heart-shaped text box to write Valentine’s Day messages and “to” and “from” text fields.
- Albertsons shares joy in the frozen aisle: Albertsons' private-label brand Overjoyed rolled out a series of seasonal gifts and a heart-shaped red velvet ice cream sandwich. The ice cream sandwiches are sold in a box of four and retail for $6.49.
- Sugarfina delivers sweets for every budget: Luxury candy maker Sugarfina rolled out a series of candy collections from three- and two-piece candy bento boxes to a nine-piece “candy trunk” that contains an assortment of sour and sweet candies in a chest that says, “I love you.” The candy company offers red velvet chocolate bars, raspberry crème dark chocolate, a sweet and sour candy mix bag as well as products featuring popular Sanrio characters like My Melody.
- Seattle Chocolate helps cocoa farmers with heart-shaped candy box: Seattle Chocolate is offering a heart-shaped box of its chocolate truffles, which includes San Juan Sea Salt and Salted Almond candies. Seattle Chocolate says it donates 10% of its net profits to improve the lives of cocoa farmers and support a more sustainable cocoa supply chain.
