1. So, NECCO made about 100,000 pounds of candy hearts a day for 11 months. About how many pounds of candy hearts is that per month? Show or explain your solution method.
NECCO produced them from late February through mid-January for the following year. The entire
production - about 100,000 pounds a day (they didn’t produce candy on Sundays) - sold out in the six
weeks around Valentine’s Day.
2. NECCO sold all of their candy hearts in the six weeks around Valentine’s Day.
3. About how much does one candy heart weigh (how can you use the data on this page to
determine this)?
4. A one-ounce box contained about 36 candies. The typical price for a box was about $0.75. At this
price about how much did one sweetheart candy cost to buy?
5. Using your cost per candy from the last problem, about how much were all 8 billion candy hearts
worth?
6. After Valentine’s Day these candy hearts sell for as cheap as $0.25 per box. At this price about
how much was each candy worth?
7. Using your cost per candy from the last problem, about how much were all 8 billion candy hearts
worth?
8. What is the difference between the value of the eight 8 billion Sweetheart candies in problems five
and seven? Do you think most of these candies are sold before or after Valentine’s Day? When
do you think the companies selling or producing these candies prefer them to be sold?
9. So, some candy hearts were sold at the pre-Valentine’s Day price and some were sold at the less
expensive post-Valentine’s Day price. What would you say is the average value of a Sweetheart
candy and then, using that value, what could be a rough estimate of the value of 8 billion
Sweetheart candies that NECCO used to produce each year? Please explain your reasoning.
10. Do you think that by next Valentine’s Day, the Spangler Company will successfully reproduce what
NECCO was able to fulfill for years?