I love my snacks, and while in general I do eat healthily, often I indulge my tastebuds in sweets, biscuits, chips and the sort.

Since being in the Netherlands, my buying habits have changed somewhat from South Africa.

In the Netherlands, there are two main places where you would be able to find these snacks – at the supermarket and at small convenience stores, but they are very different in their approach.

The convenience stores here, such as Kiosk found at every NS train station, tend to be expensive. For example, a 500ml Coke will cost aournd EUR 2.20 and a small bag of Doritos 70c. This is not different than South Africa, where convenience stores also charge a lot.

The supermarkets are where the real differences between the countries emerges. The supermarkets offer much more value for money, but in the Netherlands, you will be hardpressed to find the small sizes of items. I have never seen small packets of chips for sale at supermarkets, and only rarely small bottles of softdrinks.

For a price comparison though, the smallest size generally available Coke bottle is the 1 litre bottle and goes for around EUR1,30, while a large bag of Doritos costs around 95c. You get a lot more bang for your buck.

Except, where are all the small sizes?

In South Africa, I am used to being able to get these small sizes in supermarkets, for dirt cheap prices. It is still cheaper to buy in bulk, gram for gram, but often all you want is a quick snack.

Perhaps it is fact that supermarkets are so much smaller than South African supermarkets, and they trying to maximise profits with what space they have, but in any event, it can be often frustrating.

As a side note, I do not think that the Netherlands is unique in this. I am sure this is the case in many other countries too. It is just very different to what I am used to.

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