Valentine’s “Month”

We don’t know about you all, but at this point in the pandemic, we’re taking any chance we can get to eat chocolate. Christmas…gimme some chocolate! New Year’s Eve…where’s the chocolate? Super Bowl…seems like a good day for chocolate. And with the most chocolate-y holiday of all right around the corner, you can bet we’re going to indulge in allllll of the chocolate. 

Luckily, we’re not alone. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, Americans have sought comfort and variety at the grocery store. Over and over again, we’ve seen indulgence coming through in the data. Not only have chocolate sales been elevated, but we see people shopping earlier for holidays and overall purchasing more chocolate for holidays. 

Like Halloween 2020, we expect this Valentine’s Day will bring increased chocolate sales all month long, in addition to a larger spike on the Friday and Saturday immediately prior. We are, after all, seeking excitement where we can find it. And extending the celebration as long as possible is one way to do that. 

For chocolate candy brands, the market is still rife with opportunities to win new loyal customers—customers who will stick around long after the world settles into its new normal. We’ve yet to see “indulgence-fatigue” come through in the data, but will update you all if and when anything changes.