Norwegians go to chocolate at Easter

EasterNOREFJELL.Family on Easter vacation.Photo: Sara Johannessen / SCANPIX

Easter eve has no seven kinds of regular desserts, but deep in the Norwegian people’s soul lies the need for chocolate and cocoa.

 

Norwegian consumption of cocoa and cocoa products was 6.2 kilos per person in 2016, while the Norwegian consumption of chocolates was 9.3 kilograms, on average, per Norwegian. The level has been fairly steady over the past ten years, but before that there was an increase.

“People are very fond of chocolate in Norway, which satisfies our needs in a brilliant way, especially at times where we do not have cake traditions,” said Robert Rønning, Communications Manager in Nidar,to NTB news.

Easter is a time when nostalgia and traditions are strong and we have a great need for chocolate and cocoa. The candy sales increase by 30% over the period before Easter, according to Rønning.

“We sell approximately 20 million small and large Easter characters in chocolate and marzipan for Easter. A survey we have done showed that 40% of those eating marzipan are unable to go through Easter without it. You should brush off Norwegian easter habits’’, said Rønning.

Quasi-healthy

In recent years, chocolate and cocoa sales in the world have gotten a push from several trends. The enjoyment and gourmand trends include quality chocolate with
exclusive ingredients and aroma. In addition, there is an awareness of fair trade and sustainable cultivation of cocoa beans, and last but not least: the health aspect.

Cocoa beans contain a lot of antioxidants and are said to be good for the heart, brain and they counteract blood clots.Suddenly, chocolate has become healthy?

‘’Well, I do not want to say that. Cocoa contains extremely many substances that are good for the body, but in a regular plate of milk chocolate, there isn’t much cocoa. In addition,there is a lot of sugar and fat. So a little bit of dark chocolate a day can be healthy, but gouging on large amounts of milk chocolate is not’’, said Svein-Magnus Sørensen.

He is Norway’s first certified chocolate maker, very fond of chocolate and wants to give people an understanding of what chocolate can be, in addition to the candy products that are mostly sold.

‘’The taste and quality trend applies in Norway as well. When I started ten years ago, nobody knew about this’’, he said.

Success Ingredient

Chocolate does so well in taste that it is often added to other products. It started with chocolate flavours on ice, chocolate cookies and chocolate cakes. Then you began to dunk nuts and dried fruit in the chocolate.

“It is wasn’t really long ago that you began to cover the marzipan in chocolate, and it has become a bigger success than the pure marzipan,” Sørensen pointed out.

Rønning, at Nidar, confirmed this.

‘’For Easter, we only have marzipan covered with chocolate. For Christmas we have someone without. But the one with chocolate has a bigger audience, there is no doubt’’, he said.

Sørensen emphasised that although we like to try something new in Norway, there is little that can hit our nostalgia buttons like chocolate at the holidays.

“Both we, our parents and grandparents have grown up with the same chocolates, and are very faithful to them,” he said.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

1 Comment on "Norwegians go to chocolate at Easter"

  1. Pedro J. Alfonso | 26. March 2018 at 03:27 |

    Wait!!!I think I heard?….Did I hear you say you loved chocolate? And You keep a lot of chocolate cake, candy bars, milkshakes, hot cocoa, brownies, chocolate milk and bonbons at home? M & Ms too?

    Can we be friends? Did I hear You say Yes? Y-E-S?

    Can I come and visit You tomorrow then? (Smile!)

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