When I grew up (Norway), the portions were quite small. And we didn't have that big of a selection.
If you go to the super market today in Norway, you'll likely find tens to hundreds of different flavors. Same in Sweden and Denmark. Interestingly enough, I don't think this kind of candy ("smågodt", which you buy by the weight) is too popular elsewhere? At least I haven't seen it too much in convenience stores when I've been traveling or living abroad. In Norway it is ubiquitous, almost everywhere you go shopping.
Also, inflation has really hit chocolate hard here. One small bar of chocolate will easily cost 30-40 NOK, which is equivalent to around €3-€4. The big bars can cost up to €6! But he smågodt / pick'n mix prices have remained quite stable. So a lot of people will just buy chocolate off those. Much, much cheaper.
In the US when I was a kid in a '70s most grocery stores and supermarkets had a Brach's candy bin/wall, labelled "Pick-A-Mix", where you could buy candy by weight. The only time we got any was when my grandmother was with us as she had a huge "sweet tooth". I think by the early 2000s they were all gone (at least I haven't seen any).
I grew up in Connecticut in the US (east coast, southern New England, adjacent to New York State). I remember Brach's displays in grocery stores, usually placed on an end cap. When I moved to Portland, Oregon (west coast) in 2006, Fred Meyer still had the Brach's candy-by-weight display. It survived until 2010 or so. I miss it. You could buy a piece of candy off the display by placing a quarter in the slot of the tiny attached lockbox. It was perhaps the last vestige of the honor system.
Where I grew up, candy by weight was also popular, but as we seized being a high trust society it just no longer worked and the supermarkets stopped selling candy by weight. The same thing will happen in Norway.
Not sure I get why it's a good thing to not have high trust societies but it's been decided that we can't have that anymore. Maybe it reduces obesity … thought that was somehow also less of a problem before.
Candy-by-weight is available in most supermarkets in Poland, but I've never seen it in the Czech Republic. Perhaps the Baltic states have it too? Or Germany?
In Germany, that‘s usually part of the "Kiosk"-Culture. You can select an assortment of candy for a fixed price (say, 3€), and the owner will ask you what you want and pick it for you in a small bag. At least that was the way it worked when I was younger, some 25-ish years ago.
If you go to the super market today in Norway, you'll likely find tens to hundreds of different flavors. Same in Sweden and Denmark. Interestingly enough, I don't think this kind of candy ("smågodt", which you buy by the weight) is too popular elsewhere? At least I haven't seen it too much in convenience stores when I've been traveling or living abroad. In Norway it is ubiquitous, almost everywhere you go shopping.
Also, inflation has really hit chocolate hard here. One small bar of chocolate will easily cost 30-40 NOK, which is equivalent to around €3-€4. The big bars can cost up to €6! But he smågodt / pick'n mix prices have remained quite stable. So a lot of people will just buy chocolate off those. Much, much cheaper.