Outside the Netherlands, Dutch sweets are easiest to find in three places: specialist Dutch shops in areas with Dutch immigrant communities, online shops that ship Dutch groceries abroad, and the international aisle of large supermarkets, which usually stocks only stroopwafels and Biscoff-style speculoos. Drop (Dutch licorice) is the hardest to find in ordinary supermarkets, so specialist and online shops are the main route.
United Kingdom
- Just Liquorice: a Wiltshire-based online retailer specialising in imported licorice, including Dutch drop.
- Online shops based in the Netherlands that ship to the UK, such as Dutch Expat Shop, Yummy Dutch and Holland For You. Since Brexit, parcels from the EU can attract VAT and handling charges on delivery.
United States
The largest concentration of Dutch-American shops is in western Michigan, around Grand Rapids and Holland. Long-established examples include Vander Veen's Dutch Store in Wyoming (Grand Rapids area) and Peters Gourmet Market in Grand Rapids, which ships nationwide. Smaller Dutch shops exist in other historically Dutch communities, such as Pella, Iowa. Stroopwafels are now widely available in mainstream US supermarkets and coffee chains.
Canada
- The Dutch Shop: Ontario, with stores in Grimsby and Hamilton and an online shop.
- Continental Specialties and Strathroy Deli: Ontario shops with an online store shipping across Canada.
- Coombs Wooden Shoe Dutch Import Store: British Columbia.
Australia
Dutch licorice is sold by several online lolly shops, and by Dutch specialists such as The Clog Barn in New South Wales, which sells Dutch groceries online alongside its visitor attraction.
Ordering from the Netherlands
Dutch online shops carry the full range, including regional and seasonal products, and many ship internationally. Large Dutch marketplaces and supermarket chains generally deliver only within the Netherlands and Belgium, so international buyers usually rely on specialist export shops like those above, or on Amazon, where Dutch brands are available through third-party sellers (see the listings at the end of most entries).
Shipping and customs
- Heat: chocolate products (chocoladeletters, hagelslag, pastilles) can melt in transit; order them in the cooler months.
- Breakage: stroopwafels and marzipan figures need careful packing.
- Shelf life: most drop keeps for months, but fresh products such as the Ghent cuberdon and home-style borstplaat are best bought locally.
- Duties and taxes: rules on low-value imports differ by country and have changed recently (the United States, for example, ended its duty-free de minimis treatment for most imports in 2025). Check your national customs authority before ordering.
- Labelling: Dutch drop is labelled in Dutch. "Zoet" is sweet, "zout" salty, "dubbelzout" double salt, and "bevat zoethout" means "contains liquorice". See licorice and health.
What to try first
For a first order, a mixed bag of drop covering sweet and salty varieties, a box of hagelslag, a pack of stroopwafels and a roll of peppermints give a fair cross-section. For who makes what, see Dutch candy brands; for the vocabulary on the packets, see the glossary and What is snoep?.