Chocolate Day 2024: History, significance and how to celebrate

Every year on February 9, people across the globe observe Chocolate Day as a part of the celebration during Valentine’s week. It marks the third day of the week leading up to Valentine's Day on February 14. The day is followed by Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, Kiss Day and finally Valentine’s Day.
As chocolate is a symbol of sweetness and love, it is often used as a means of expressing affection for your partner. Let us take a brief look at its origin, significance and how to make this day more special for your loved ones.

History and significance

The celebration of Chocolate Day marks one of the most important parts for lovebirds during Valentine’s week. Although the origin of the day is not documented, it is believed to be established as a Christian feast day honouring Saint Valentine and others. Since the Victorian era, the practice of gifting chocolates to loved ones ahead of Valentine's Day has been a prominent practice in many countries.

According to the official website of the Smithsonian Institution in the United States, during the 19th century, a British family was looking for a way to use their cocoa butter, extracted from a process. The website states, “A marketing genius, Cadbury began putting the Cupids and rosebuds on heart-shaped boxes in 1861: even when the chocolates had been eaten, people could use the beautiful boxes to save such mementos as love letters.”
Cadbury improved the chocolate-making technique so as to extract pure cocoa butter from whole beans, producing more palatable drinking chocolate, according to History.com.