Saint Nicholas is not a minor commercial occasion in Belgium: for a bakery, a chocolate shop or a confectioner it is a peak concentrated into three days, almost entirely in takeaway sales. And that is precisely what makes it treacherous: volume rises on sweet goods and small formats, exactly the references you stock the least of.
What rises, and what does not
The instinct is to order « more of everything ». That is a mistake: Saint Nicholas does not inflate the business as a whole, it shifts its composition.
| Item | Change across the 3 days | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small kraft bags | Sharp rise | Sales happen by the item or in small quantities, not by the hamper |
| Greaseproof paper | Sharp rise | Speculoos, marzipan, chocolate: everything is greasy or dusted |
| Hot cups | Rise | Hot chocolate and mulled wine at markets and outside schools |
| Large bags | Modest rise | A few family orders, not the bulk of the volume |
| Meal containers | Flat | Saint Nicholas is eaten walking, not at a table |
Practical consequence: it is the small format that runs out, never the large one. A shop that ordered « more of everything » ends up with a year's supply of large bags and no 22 × 11 left by the evening of 5 December.
The three bag formats, and which one really counts
Catalogue prices as of 15 October 2026, reduced to unit cost.
| Format | Reference | Pack size | Unit cost | Use in December |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 × 11 × 28 cm | PA-270787 | 250 units — €20.52 | €0.082 | The format of the peak — sales by the item |
| 26 × 17 × 26 cm | PA-270200 | 250 units — €20.74 | €0.083 | Assortment, small order |
| 32 × 21 × 30 cm | PA-270197 | 250 units — €26.98 | €0.108 | Family order, multiple boxes |
The price gap between the smallest and the largest is €0.026 per unit. In other words, serving into an oversized bag costs almost nothing in money, but it costs in perception — a small bag of speculoos at the bottom of a 32 cm bag gives the impression of having bought very little. The right format is the one that gets filled.
The ordering schedule, counting back from 6 December
The real constraint is not price, it is lead time. A wholesaler delivers within a few days in normal times, and the first week of December is not normal times: the entire catering trade orders at once.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Mid-November | Count the actual stock of small bags and paper — not estimate it, count it |
| Before 25 November | Place the order, in one go to reach the free-delivery threshold |
| 1st December | Last useful window — beyond that, delivery arrives after the peak |
| After the 6th | Roll straight on to Christmas: leftover stock is used immediately |
The right instinct is to treat Saint Nicholas and Christmas as a single order. Consumables keep more or less indefinitely, the free-delivery threshold is easier to reach on a grouped volume, and you spare yourself a second order in the worst week of the year for lead times.
Thresholds and lead times are set out in ordering wholesale: free delivery, thresholds and lead times, and the equipment list for a stand in Christmas stand and Christmas market.
The market and the school gate
Many businesses leave their shop on those days: Saint Nicholas market, a stand outside a school, a handout at a neighbourhood event. Three constraints change everything there.
- No running water — the single-use glove and the refreshing wipe replace handwashing.
- Hot drinks sell outdoors — hot chocolate and mulled wine need a cup and a lid, not just a cup. A cup without a lid in a child's hand ends up on the ground.
- At an event, single-use plastic drinks cups are banned in Wallonia since September 2023. The card cup remains permitted for hot drinks; for cold, it is reusable.
A complete hot cup comes to €0.083. The detail of the formats is in card coffee cups: 4, 8 or 12 oz, and the volume calculation for an event in how many cups to plan for.
🎒 It is the small bag that runs out
Sales happen by the item, not by the hamper. Ordering « more of everything » leaves you with large bags and nothing in 22 × 11.
📅 Order before 25 November
By 1 December the whole trade is ordering at once. Delivery arrives after the peak, and the peak cannot be made up.
☕ The lid, not just the cup
A hot chocolate with no lid in a child's hand ends up on the ground. And in Wallonia the single-use plastic cup is banned at events.
F&G kraft bag 22 × 11 × 28 cm (PA-270787)
The format that empties fastest on 5 and 6 December: the one for sales by the item. It is also the one most often under-ordered, because it accounts for little turnover the rest of the year.
- Pack of 250 units — €20.52
- €0.082 per unit
- Recycled 70 g kraft paper, flat handle
- F&G own brand
Greaseproof Fast Food paper 13 × 14 cm (GAR-18624)
Speculoos, marzipan, chocolate: everything sold on 6 December is greasy or dusted. Without an interleaf, the bag is marked before it reaches home.
- Pack of 1000 units — €18.35
- €0.018 per unit
- 32 g/m², open on two sides
- Cold contact — not a baking paper
Frequently asked questions
When should you order for Saint Nicholas ?
Before 25 November. By 1st December the entire Belgian catering trade is ordering at once and lead times stretch: a delivery arriving on 7 December is no use at all. The simplest approach is to group Saint Nicholas and Christmas into a single order.
Which bag format empties fastest on 6 December ?
The small one — 22 × 11 × 28 cm. Sales happen by the item or in small quantities, not by the filled hamper. It is also the format most often under-ordered, because it carries little weight in turnover the rest of the year.
Can you serve hot chocolate in a plastic cup ?
Not at an event in Wallonia: single-use plastic drinks cups have been banned there since September 2023. The card cup remains permitted for hot drinks; for cold ones it is the reusable cup.
Do you need interleaving paper for confectionery ?
Yes, for anything greasy or dusted — speculoos, marzipan, chocolate. Greaseproof paper stops the bag absorbing the grease and arriving stained: the customer judges the product by its packaging before opening it.
What do you do with leftover stock after 6 December ?
It is used immediately for Christmas and New Year, three weeks later. That is the argument for ordering generously: consumables keep more or less indefinitely and the next peak arrives before they sit idle.
Get ready for 6 December
F&G kraft bags, greaseproof paper and hot cups, delivered across BE, LU, FR, NL and DE.
View the F&G kraft bagsView the cups