Christmas cookie firm to open ten seasonal shops

Van Delft, manufacturer of the traditional Dutch Christmas cookie pepernoten, will be opening 10 stores in the Netherlands this fall, including a pop-up store in The Hague. According to NU, the existing shop in Amsterdam will be getting a new design. Shops will be opening in Groningen, The Hague, Arnhem and Zwolle this month, followed by shops in Haarlem, Den Bosch and Rotterdam. The company is still looking for suitable retail space in Alkmaar in Maastricht. The pop-up store in The Hague will be opening its doors on September 16th and will remain open until end December, Omroep West reports. Van Delft Biscuits traditionally only delivered its products to retailers, but after noticing a growing demand for the gingerbread cookies, decided to start selling directly to consumers. The stores will sell more than 50 types of pepernoten, including some non-traditional flavors like chocolate gingerbread, raspberry, syrup, truffle cinnamon and tiramisu. Van Delft bakes more than three billion pepernoten every year and has been the "main supplier for Sinterklaas" since 1880. About 70 percent of the pepernoten sold in the Netherlands were baked by this bakery.