Valentine’s Day and Chocolate
In America, the Pilgrims used to send confections, such as sugar wafers, marzipan, sweetmeats and sugar plums, to their affianced. A great deal of value was placed on these gifts because they included what was then a rare product … sugar. After the late 1800's, beet sugar became widely used and more readily available and sweet gifts continued to be cherished and enjoyed.
While 75% of chocolate purchases are made by women all year long, during the days and minutes before Valentine's Day, 75% of the chocolate purchases are made by men. Over $1 billion of chocolate is purchased for Valentine's Day
More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine's Day.
Chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the world's almonds and 20 percent of the world's peanuts.
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