Remind me that not all candy is chocolate and not all flowers are roses. But you might want to check out just what’s inside those heart-shaped red boxes tomorrow.

Here’s some perspective:

1. Chocolate accounts for 59 percent of all candy sales in the U.S. The chocolate portion of that comes to an average of $145 a person each year.
2. The average American eats three chocolate bars a week.
3. The most popular time of the year to buy candy is the week before Halloween, followed by Easter, and then Valentine’s Day. Not all of that is chocolate. Think of all those little hearts imprinted with pink messages you’ll be facing tomorrow. But chocolate still weighs in big. For Valentine’s Day, it adds up to 58 million pounds – or, including all candy, $2.4 billion. Kaa-ching!
4. The top day for chocolate sales in the USA is November 1, right after trick or treating.
5. The most popular time of day to eat chocolate is in the evening.
6. Most candy is sold after 2 pm, with peak sales between 4 and 5 o’clock.
7. Online chocolate shopping now accounts for 40 percent of consumer action. What, it’s not the vending machine at the office?
8. Milk chocolate is preferred by 49 percent of the American public, followed by dark at 34 percent. My favorite, white, has to split the remainder with some other subcategories.
9. Three of the five biggest chocolate manufacturers are in the U.S. (Hershey’s comes in fifth, Modelez third, and Mars first.) But Europe is the biggest market.
10. The Covid-19 outbreak led to a sharp rise in the popularity of fine chocolate who turned to it as an emotional comfort. The consumers were generally younger, living in urban areas, and earning above-average incomes.

Thanks especially to Max at Dame Cacao. She just might be worth a Tendril of her own.