February 2026
By Javier Juarez, Staff Reporter
February is the month of love and chocolatey goodness but under all that sweet chocolate there is a bitter truth to be seen. Ever since 2009 the amount spent on Valentine’s Day has been steadily increasing. Is it because the cost of manufacturing has risen a lot or is it corporate greed sneaking into the pockets of millions? Companies like Hershey and Nestle have raised their prices from 10% to 20% whenever February comes around.
Other companies like Lindt, Mondelez, and Mars have also raised prices but why is that?Companies have made excuses on why they raise the price of chocolate in February due to supply and demand but the size of chocolate bars and similar products have seemed to have shrunk while their prices have soared. In my research it’s true that sales have soared by 512% in 2025 compared to previous years. Another claim is that the price of cocoa is skyrocketing because of the bad harvest they had that year. But I still think that the companies made off way more than they ever spent at the end of the month. They all came out with a few billions of dollars just in the month of February alone. For example Hershey made 3.4 Billion from last Valentine’s Day. And other companies have also made similar profits; they definitely made more than they spent on buying material.
Another way companies are blatantly being greedy is the misleading packages they sell their products in. Big boxes of chocolate are sold that look like they have a lot in it to match their massive price but when opened most of the space is filled in with plastic with only a couple of chocolate pieces inside. The prices on those boxes are also straight extortion costing ranges from 10-50 dollars with not that much difference in quality and quantity. They say they have spent a lot of money to buy cocoa but they give out less chocolate while also raising the prices to an absorbent amount. This leads to the question of is it really supply and demand or just another story of companies trying to make as much profit as possible through holidays?
In my opinion from all the evidence it should be obvious that it’s classic greedy companies giving excuses to why they should raise their prices and make even more money. Even if most people knew all of this info they would probably still buy chocolate in February. That’s because of the expectation that others have for example if you didn’t get anything for your lover on Valentine’s Day an argument or resentment would ensue. People want chocolates etc because it makes them feel loved or appreciated. And companies know that, that’s how they can get away with raising the price so much. No matter if the price was double the current price people would still buy it because they want their loved ones to have that feeling of joy when receiving items on holidays.
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