Chao News client reporter Wang Jing.
Do you remember the flavor of the year when you were a child? Every family has to buy a lot of candy and snacks, put them in the living room coffee table turntable piled up into a hill, see the children who come to visit the New Year, the owner grabs a handful and stuffs it into his pocket, which has both the New Year's atmosphere and the face and the economy.
Eating sugar during the New Year means that the new year is sweet and sweet.
In an age of material scarcity, scarce sugar is a luxury. Twenty or thirty years ago, when the Chinese New Year weighed two or three catties of candy, the children of all sizes in the family could be happy for a long time, and even adults couldn't help but secretly peel a sweet mouth.
Sugar may be a symbolic New Year's gift from a bygone era.
However, now, there seems to be less sugar in supermarkets, and there seem to be fewer people buying sugar, and nuts and chocolates occupy the C position in the shopping mall. On the Internet, some netizens also discovered this phenomenon and couldn't help but post with emotion, why don't young people like candy? Is the smell of the year getting lighter?
*From the web.
Now the supermarket C position is nut chocolate. Photo by Wang Jing.
Because it's "too sweet", it's "not fragrant".
There are not many sweets in the supermarket, and they are also discounted.
Approaching the New Year, Century Lianhua and RT-Mart are lit up with lights, New Year's decorations, blessing couplets, pillows for the Year of the Dragon, dolls, and a dazzling array of goods, full of New Year's flavor. However, if you take a closer look, you will know who is the real "top stream" of New Year's goods. In the center of the shelves are rows of nut gift boxes, and further inside, there are large boxes of 66 Ferreros, bowls of Dove and Snickers chocolates.
And the candy, with only two rows of shelves in bulk, seems a little deserted in the bustle.
The Chao News reporter waited for a while in front of the shelves of bulk weighing, and found that there were bulk lo-mei, duck paws and duck necks, nuts, watermelon seeds, pistachios, pecans, and the aunt who weighed them on the side enthusiastically promoted "You try this caramel-flavored melon seeds, they sell very well." There were also children carrying a small bag of ham sausages ......
In contrast, there are only two columns on the shelves that sell sugar, and there are not many varieties. The classic white rabbit, sorghum syrup, peanut candy, and coconut candy are nearly half lower than the lo-mei **, and they are also labeled as price reductions and discounts. Only occasionally some elderly people pass by and buy a bag.
The candy stalls in the supermarket are only patronized by some elderly people, and children usually don't look at them when they pass by. Photo by Wang Jing.
Why don't you buy some candy to eat? The young man who bought lo-mei said that it was too sweet, and it was suitable to lie on the sofa and watch TV on lo-mei during the Chinese New Year.
On social platforms, there is also a non-stop discussion about "why young people don't like to eat sugar", Sister Bao Ma Meow said, I remember that I used to like to eat very much, and when I was a child, Alps, Yoha Yoha, nougat, and fruit gummies at home have never been broken, but now I basically don't eat sugar, only when I drink wine, and I will take one or two tangerine peels or mints in the restaurant. "I don't buy much candy for my child's snacks, I buy cheese sticks and seaweed, and the most important thing is to think about health and fear of tooth decay. ”
This caramel is quite contemporary. Photo by Wang Jing.
The confectionery market has shrunk for many years.
Consumers have more choices for New Year's goods.
After a lot, the memory of candy should be very deep. Only during the New Year's festival will adults generously weigh a few catties of candy and distribute it to children as a rare "luxury" in the Spring Festival. To greet the elders, the New Year's money is very small, and the candy can always fill the pockets of the clothes after a circle. Some delicious White Rabbit toffee can even become a "hard currency" between children, and it can be exchanged for various gadgets. It can be said that in the past, a large part of the children's happiness was given by candy.
When we suddenly realized that we "don't like sugar", the candy market had been shrinking for years.
According to the data, China's candy market share continued to shrink from 2014 to 2016, with total sales of 85 billion yuan in 2016, and the number of large-scale candy companies losing money reached 38 that year. From 2016 to 2018, China's candy output was 3.52 million tons, 3.31 million tons, and 2.88 million tons respectively, and the decline rate continued to accelerate.
On the one hand, this is caused by the change of Chinese people's eating habits. In the past five years, Chinese consumers' demand for health has been increasing, and almost all diets have been labeled as "low sugar", "less sugar" and "no sugar".
On the other hand, the continuous enrichment and diversification of snack types have also replaced the position of candy. Xu Fuji, which has ranked first in the New Year sugar market for 17 consecutive years, has rarely appeared in New Year's goods for visiting relatives and friends. Instead, nuts, puffed food packs, and healthier fruit gift boxes are available.
The elderly should quit sugar for diabetes, the middle-aged man should control sugar in his beer belly, the woman should resist sugar for anti-aging, and children should not eat more sugar to protect their teeth. Who else can eat sugar? As a result, the candy gradually became marginal in the disgust of the New Year's gift stocking.
What kind of memories do you have about Chinese New Year's sweets? Welcome to the comment area to talk about it.
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