- Categories:
- Food & Beverage
- Tags:
- ChocolateFood
- Where:
- United States
- Date change rule:
- Every October 28
- Holiday emoji:
- 🍫
National Chocolate Day celebrates the rich, decadent delight that has captivated taste buds for centuries, arriving every October 28. From creamy milk chocolate to intense dark varieties, there’s a chocolate for everyone. Indulge in your favorite treat, try a new recipe, or share the joy with friends and family today!
Want to sponsor National Chocolate Day? Learn how
Expected National Chocolate Day Deals
As National Chocolate Day approaches, expect a delightful array of promotions from your favorite brands. In past years, retailers like Hershey’s, Godiva, and Ghirardelli have offered discounts on bars, truffles, and gift sets. Look for special deals from See’s Candies and Lindt on their premium collections. Local bakeries and cafes, such as Starbucks and Dunkin’, often feature chocolate-themed beverages and pastries. We will update this page with confirmed live deals as October 28 approaches.
Platform Guide for National Chocolate Day
Tag @nationaltoday_ and use #NationalChocolateDay. Share mouth-watering photos of your favorite chocolate treats or creations.
TikTok
Tag @www.nationaltoday.com and use #NationalChocolateDay. Film a quick recipe video featuring chocolate or review a new chocolate product.
Mention National Today (facebook.com/nationaltoday) and use #NationalChocolateDay. Share your go-to chocolate dessert recipes or local chocolate shop recommendations.
National Chocolate Day Hero
Milton S. Hershey
History of National Chocolate Day
The history of chocolate goes back 2,500 years. Aztecs loved their newly discovered liquid chocolate to the extent that they believed Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, literally bestowed it upon them. Cacao seeds acted as a form of currency. And this was back in the “bitter” chocolate days — before they added sugar! Once chocolate turned sweet — in 16th-century Europe — the masses caught on and turned chocolate into a powerhouse treat.
Several present-day chocolate companies began operations in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Cadbury started in England by 1868. Milton S. Hershey, 25 years later, purchased chocolate processing equipment at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago He started the company by producing chocolate-coated caramels. Nestlé, dating back to the 1860s, has grown into one of the largest food conglomerates in the world.
Did you know that chocolate is a fermented food? That’s right, once the cacao pods are picked, cleaned of pithy white material from the fruit and dried, the cacao beans are fermented. The papery shell is removed and cacao nibs are revealed. Chocolatiers then grind them into cocoa mass, separate them into cocoa solids and cocoa butter, and combine them with milk and sugar, or in the case of white chocolate, just the chocolate butter with milk and sugar.
Today there’s a move toward dark chocolate since it contains far less sugar. Ghana, Ecuador, and the Ivory Coast,all near the equator, have ideal climates for cacao trees and produce some of the world’s best chocolate. It’s best to look for dark chocolate from those regions.
But there’s a dark side. Child labor has become a serious issue. When you purchase “fair trade chocolate,” you’re working to help make cocoa farming more sustainable. Keep this in mind and choose your chocolate wisely.
National Chocolate Day timeline
Dutch chemist Coenraad Van Houten invented a hydraulic press that could separate the cocoa butter from the cacao, thereby producing a powder. This led to the first chocolate confections
Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter joins forces with M. Henri Nestlé, then a baby-food manufacturer who had invented a milk-condensation process. Together they found a way to bring milk chocolate onto the market. They would go on to form the Nestlé company.
Milton Hershey builds a park to create a more pleasant environment for workers and residents — striving to rise above typical factory towns of the time. The original main buildings, including a rustic bandstand and pavilion, serve as a stage for vaudeville and theatre productions.
Wakefield's cookbook includes the recipe for the ‘Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie.’
National Chocolate Day - Survey Results
Data gathered by a top Minneapolis Marketing Agency
By The Numbers
$10,000 — the price of Swarovski-studded chocolates.
$260 — the price of a 1.76-ounce To’ak chocolate bar.
400 — the number of cacao beans it takes to make one pound of chocolate.
8 — the number of years it took to perfect the recipe for milk chocolate.
90 million — the number of chocolate Easter bunnies manufactured every year.
36 million — the number of heart-shaped chocolate boxes sold every Valentine’s Day.
1847 — the year when British confectioners invented the first chocolate bar.
20% — the percentage of all dark chocolate consumed in the U.S.
1700s — the decade when chocolate milk was created in Jamaica.
22 pounds — the amount of chocolate that would need to be eaten to kill a person.
National Chocolate Day FAQs
When is National Chocolate Day?
National Chocolate Day 2026 falls on Wednesday, October 28, inviting everyone to indulge in their favorite cocoa creations. It’s the perfect mid-week treat to sweeten your day.
How much chocolate is consumed annually?
Globally, chocolate consumption is immense, with estimates suggesting billions of pounds consumed each year. The average American consumes roughly 11 pounds of chocolate annually, making it a staple treat.
What are the health benefits of chocolate?
Dark chocolate, in particular, is rich in antioxidants like flavonoids, which may help reduce inflammation and improve heart health. It also contains minerals such as iron, magnesium, and zinc.
What is the difference between cocoa and cacao?
Cacao refers to the raw, unprocessed beans from the Theobroma cacao tree, often sold as nibs or powder, retaining most of their nutrients. Cocoa is cacao that has been roasted, ground, and often processed with alkali, which can reduce its nutritional content but enhance flavor.
National Chocolate Day Activities
Try making your own truffles!
It may seem hard, but it’s actually easier than you think! Follow this recipe for 4 easy and fun ways to experiment with making your own truffle from scratch. All you'll need is some cream, some chocolate chips and a tiny bit of time.
Tour a local chocolatier
Get an up-close look at the process that chocolate goes through from bean to bar at a local chocolate factory or chocolatier. Most places have tours available to the public and are more than happy to share their knowledge, experience, and love of the chocolate profession and trade.
Share a bar with your friends
Chocolate is amazing, friends are amazing, and human connection over chocolate is one of the most beautiful things! Most people like chocolate, and really, even if they don't, you know they'll appreciate the offer to spend a moment with them and chat.
5 Dreamy Creamy Facts About Chocolate
Chocolate is technically a vegetable
Chocolate comes from the cacao bean, which grows on the cacao tree.
White chocolate is not chocolate
As it contains no cocoa solids, white chocolate isn’t chocolate.
The first chocolate beverage
Hot chocolate was brewed in Aztec culture, and tasted really bitter.
Cacao beans as currency
The Aztecs valued cacao beans so much that it was used as currency.
Unique melting point
Why We Love National Chocolate Day
Chocolate can lower stress
One study showed that people who ate chocolate compounds had better cognitive performance and reported less mental fatigue than the control group. This may have something to do with how the chemicals in chocolate interact with our brain: releasing serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins and giving us a good dose of antioxidants.
It can help us lose weight
Another study revealed that ingestion of dark chocolate prior to eating at an all-you-can-eat buffet triggered a 17% lower calorie intake for participants! It’s all about the sugar.
Chocolate might help your heart
Per the American Heart Association: “Combining raw almonds, dark chocolate and cocoa significantly reduced the number of low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, particles in the blood of overweight and obese people. LDL is often called “bad cholesterol” because of the role it plays in clogging arteries.
National Chocolate Day dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | October 28 | Wednesday |
| 2027 | October 28 | Thursday |
| 2028 | October 28 | Saturday |
| 2029 | October 28 | Sunday |
| 2030 | October 28 | Monday |
National Chocolate Day related holidays
National Chocolate Day Featured Video
Celebrate Chocolate Day!
Social Media Tips for National Chocolate Day
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