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Holland is a true licorice country.

That is why we have so many different

varieties of licorice in the Netherlands. The Dutch eat some 32,000,000 kg of licorice per year. That is an average of two kilos per person. Nearly every Dutchman has some licorice at home. Dutch people that live abroad, and are visited by friends or family from back home, nearly always ask them to bring a bag of licorice with them from the homeland. Many Dutch people that go on a vacation take along a bag of licorice. Licorice is just as much a part of Holland as tulips, cheese, wooden shoes, and mills. Licorice is very popular outside the Netherlands as well, in Scandinavia and northern Germany, for example. Northern Germany loves salty licorice, and in Scandinavia they love a combination of licorice and chocolate. In Iceland, people enjoy licorice with pepper. Licorice is less known in southern countries. Licorice is produced throughout the Netherlands.

There is not really an explanation as to why the consumption of licorice is so popular in these countries. It has been mentioned that these countries are aimed directed towards the sea and, therefore, the people that live in those areas would perhaps love salty things such as licorice and herring as a consequence.

Through the years, the taste of licorice has developed because people added many different (natural and artificial) flavors to it, such as mint, salt, honey, anise, laurel, and sal ammoniac.  Every year, new flavors are marketed. Some variations of licorice were also produced in the old days. These are now referred to as "Licorice from the past".