Oysters for Christmas and New Year's Eve
Oysters are a very traditional meal for Christmas and New Year's Eve. In Zeeland, about 70% of the oysters sold are sold annually in the month of December. It is a tradition to eat oysters during the Christmas holidays. People like to buy oysters (usually in supermarkets) and prepare them for family and friends.
Oyster are trendy
The oyster is seen as a very luxurious product. Well-known influencers and wealthy people show on their social media that they eat oysters in the Netherlands, but also during holidays abroad. This creates the image of a luxury product, especially among the younger generations.
This story is a good example to illustrate the “oyster trend”. A very well-known couple (especially among millennials); Bas Smit (800k+ followers on Instagram) and Nicolette van Dam (900k+ followers) started a trend to travel through the Netherlands and show the beauty of the country. They wrote a book about the most beautiful places in the Netherlands with Yerseke and her oyster experience at number 1.
They sold their book more than 25,000 times and during their visits they posted multiple photos and videos on Instagram about oysters in a very exciting and positive way. The post has most likely reached thousands of people as it has more than 60,000 likes.
Covid-19: What was the impact on the oyster industry?
Unlike many other industries, the pandemic actually had a positive impact on the oyster industry. In the Netherlands, the restaurants were closed for months, so they and their customers came up with creative solutions. Most restaurants started offering the option to take their meals with them, which led people to eat their food at home. Although this was already a popular activity, especially in larger cities, people were not used to eating the more expensive and luxurious food at home, prepared by a chef.
In addition, the Dutch population was somewhat forced to spend their holidays in their own country, instead of going abroad. This trend led to an increase in the number of tourists in Zeeland. Yerseke is already a well-known place for tourists when they visit Zeeland, and when people are in Yerseke it is impossible not to notice the oyster industry.