NL residents snacked more on chocolate, wine gums during pandemic

Netherlands residents definitely snacked more during the coronavirus pandemic. Spending on on things like chocoloate, wine gums and drop increased since the start of the first lockdown, ABN Amro concluded in a study of figures from supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations, NOS reports.

In 2020, the turnover on chocolate increased by 7 percent. Turnover on drop and other sweets like wine gums increased by 6 percent. This trend continued even stronger in the first four months of this year, with chocolate and sweets sales increasing 9 percent. 

The increase in sweet snacking is even more striking considering that Netherlands residents became increasingly aware of sugar's negative effect on their health in the years before the pandemic. This resulted in barely any growth in sweets sales. 

ABN Amro also noted that the sale of peppermints and refreshing chewing gum dropped during the pandemic. Cloette Holland, for example, reported that their sales of these products dropped by up to 15 percent. "We went out less, we saw fewer colleagues on the work floor, so we apparently had less need for fresh breath," researcher Nadia Menkveld said to the broadcaster.