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15 VALENTINE’S DAY FAST FACTS
CHOCOLATES
- The chocolate box has been in existence for over 140 years.
- The most popular flavors in a box of chocolates are caramels, followed closely by chocolate-covered nuts, coconut, and chocolate and cream-filled.
- Thirty-six million heart shaped boxes of chocolates will be sold across the country.
- Cadbury introduced the first box of chocolates, the “Fancy Box,” in 1861. Hershey’s delighted us with their tiny, yet delicious chocolate, “Hershey’s Kisses” in 1907, followed by the legendary yellow boxed “Whitman’s Sampler,” in 1912.
- Almost a whopping $1.8 billion is said to be spent on candy and chocolate for Valentine’s Day this year.
FLOWERS
- Around 224 million roses are grown annually for Valentine’s Day.
- The Roman goddess of love, Venus, adored red roses because they symbolized intense romantic feelings. Red roses are by far, the most requested roses each year.
- The men are in the majority when it comes to buying flowers – 64% of men buy flowers, while only 36% of women buy them for Valentine’s Day.
- It’s predicted that 43 million households will buy flowers to the tune of $3.3 billion.
- Young folks are leading the trend in floral sales. In 2016, 63% of those purchasing flowers were under the age of 35.
CANDY HEARTS
- Conversation hearts got their start in 1866 as medical lozenges and were originally shaped like scallop shells.
- The entire amount produced annually sells out in six weeks. Candy hearts are the best-selling Valentine’s Day candy.
- Necco, the maker of those famed candy hearts, produces more than 8 billion each year. That’s almost 100,000 pounds per day!
- Each box has approximately forty-five phrases, which change out every year. Want to customize your message? No problem – just be prepared to order a full production run – which is 1.7 million candy hearts!
- Still have some candy hearts from last year? No worries – they have a shelf life of five years.
