France eats 7.3 kilograms of chocolate per capita every year, and special periods are still regarded as "necessities" of life.

Easter in 2020 is April 12, which is a great time to buy goods at chocolate shops; sales during Easter in previous years accounted for an average of 20% of the annual turnover. Chocolate shops, which were already greatly reduced due to the epidemic, encountered the government's implementation of home quarantine measures during the golden season of sales, which can be described as worse.

Bakeries, dessert shops and chocolate shops are government-licensed "necessities" stores open during the pandemic, but turnover is still under the whack. Sylvie Collin, president of the French Federation of Chocolate and Confectionery, said that since the implementation of the home quarantine measures, the flow of passengers has decreased by 80%.

France is a big consumer of chocolate, with an average of 7.3 kilograms of chocolate per person per year, and 83% of people eat chocolate at least once a week. But the problem now is that manufacturers and stores produce as usual, but the number of customers is greatly reduced. Because the process is more complicated, 90% of the egg-shaped and chicken-shaped chocolates prepared for Easter are already made in mid-March, so the industry is very worried that a large number of special chocolates will be reduced to "inventory". Many stores have made efforts to do this, such as promoting online booking and home delivery services. In addition, chocolate shops in the Beauvais region of the province of Oise launched an appeal to postpone Easter until May 17. As things stand, the impact of the pandemic on the industry could continue until early May, and May 17 is the last weekend before Jesus' ascension to heaven.

Xavier Conraux, the owner of a local chocolate shop, does not deny seeing Easter as a "business purpose," but also stresses the importance of the holiday to families and is also an "opportunity to celebrate the end of home isolation."

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