Valentine’s Day and candy are synonymous. And it’s hard to imagine the holiday of love without our most favorite Valentine’s candy of all: Sweethearts candy conversation hearts. So if you’re looking to score some of the cute heart candies, it looks like you’ll be out of luck this year.
According to CNBC, Sweethearts will be missing from Valentine’s candy shelves this year after it original producer, New England Confectionery Company, also known as Necco, went out of business last year.
image via Windell Oskay – Flickr
After Round Hill Investments bought Necco at auction, it sold the Necco wafer brand and the Sweethearts candy Spangler Candy Company, which is best known for Dum-Dums lollipops.
While Spangler acquired the brands in September, the company is still renovating its factory, Hello Giggles reports. The candy company said, however, that while the conversation heart won’t be here in time for Valentine’s Day, it will relaunch in time for Valentine’s Day 2020. Necco wafers will be back on store shelves this year.
“There are a lot of manufacturing challenges and unanswered questions at this point, and we want to make sure these brands meet consumer expectations when they re-enter the market,” Spangler CEO Kirk Vashaw said in a statement. “We look forward to announcing the Sweethearts relaunch for the 2020 Valentine season, and hope to reintroduce Necco Wafers to the marketplace in 2019.”
When CNBC sent a request for comment to Spangler, the company sent this message back:
It’ll be sad not to be able to give our crushes cute little candy hearts with “BE MINE” on them, but we’re excited to see our favorite Valentine’s Day candy again next year.