Diving into Valentine’s Day spending and chocolate prices
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- According to the NRF, Valentine’s Day spending is expected to reach a new record this year, with consumers expected to spend more than $29 billion.
John Talbott, senior lecturer of marketing at the IU Kelley School of Business, explains why Valentine's Day spending is roughly twice as big as Halloween.
“A big part of it is that the items that are being gifted are just much higher price points. And so, the average spends on, I think, a per consumer basis, they're looking at around 200 bucks, and Halloween is 120,” said Talbott.
He says the two categories' people are spending the most on are a night out and jewelry.
Stephanie Carls is the retail insights expert at RetailMeNot, says people are spreading out their budgets this year to buy for more people, without breaking the bank.
She says chocolate is a very popular Valentine’s Day item.
“Chocolate is one of those Valentine staples that people— some are just saying they won't skip, and that is also why the prices are going to be higher on those chocolates. So, it's not just luxury chocolate. This can be everyday Valentine's Day candy at grocery or even drug stores, it's going to cost more this year,” said Carls.
The South Bend Chocolate Company creates local treats year-round, and they also have specific Valentine’s Day items.
Kristina Tressler is the Director of Operations for the South Bend Chocolate Company.
“I like to believe that people do care about local and they do care about a more homemade product. As opposed to going to a big box store, it kind of just makes it a little bit more special,” said Tressler.
She explained to ABC57 that they’ve had to pay more for chocolate and experienced supply challenges over the past two years or so. Tressler says cocoa prices were high for a few reasons. Tariffs added another price layer last year before they were eventually removed last year.
“I think everybody, from a big Chocolatier to small, all of us. It hit us all very, very hard, and it was like I said, we can't charge $100 for chocolate, so we kind of just had to stand our ground with it and just take the hit. And now that it's starting to, I wouldn't say, stabilize, but it's coming down a little bit. It's definitely helping us,” said Tressler.
Tressler says a lot of things are more expensive right now.
“Everything is just higher. Sugar is higher. The price to fix things are higher. Transportation is higher. Everything's just higher right now. So like I said, all we can do is just kind of hope that something stabilizes. Even if chocolate does go back down, which I don't think that it will, it's still —everything else is so inflated right now that it's just really, really hard, I think for a lot of people, not just in the chocolate industry, but everywhere,” said Tressler.