1. Sweet stuff.
Valentine’s Day is like a Halloween candy day for sweethearts. But with fancier treats. Typically Mild Duds aren’t the way to seduce your mate.
CandyStore.com, an online bulk candy store, tracks trends by state using 10 years of sales data.
Overall, conversation hearts have been gaining ground on the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and finally overtook them last year.
But not in Washington. The top three are: 1. Heart-shaped boxes. 2. Chocolate roses. 3. Conversation hearts.
In Idaho, M&Ms were the most popular, followed by conversation hearts and Hershey Kisses.
And Nebraska? Chocolate hearts took home the gold. Heart-shaped boxes of chocolates came in second. Cupid corn, the Valentine’s Day version of candy corn, ranked third.
2. Sweet trivia.
It’s expected that $1.7 billion will be spent on candy for the sweetest holiday.
More than 40 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold.
Caramel-flavored chocolates are the most popular in those boxes.
Chocolate-covered nuts were a close second.
Approximately 8.2 billion conversation hearts will be produced this year.
Sixty-nine percent of people prefer chocolate over flowers as a Valentine’s Day gift.
3. Sweet treats.
Use conversation hearts to make cocktails. Distill candy hearts in vodka and crush for the rim.
Put the hearts on brownies and crispy rice treats. Perk up popcorn.
Cover a cake with the hearts and it will be the talk of any party.
More at www.candystore.com.
— Andrea Brown, Herald writer
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