Swedish candy conquers the world: “In the USA there are candy sommeliers”

We Swedes top the list of candy eaters in the world with between 17 and 18 kilos per person per year. But now the Swedish pick candy is also trending abroad in both the USA, Great Britain and parts of Asia.
– In the stores in the US you have a sweets sommelier, says Sofie Zettergren Bonnevier.

There may be a little piggy in all of us. If not in every adult, then at least in every other child. And it often arrives on Saturdays or during holidays such as Halloween, Easter and of course also during Christmas. An average Swede actually eats around 17 to 18 kilos of candy every year. But now the little candies have found their way abroad and become popular internationally.

It has become huge in the US. They have opened several new candy shops with long lines outside. But it is sold with a golden edge, says Sofie Zettergren Bonnevier who is a trend and innovation analyst.

This is how much the candy costs in the US

In the US, the Swedish candy is marketed as a premium product and sold for an astonishing 700 kroner per kilo. So the bags usually look much smaller than the ones we are used to here at home.

In the stores there is also a candy sommelier who helps the Americans pick the right types of goods. It has mainly been niche varieties that are bought, sour and sweet candies and candies with fun shapes and colors. But it’s expensive, so you can perhaps afford to pick ten candies in a bag, says Sofie Zettergren Bonnevier.

It started with a candy salad

Swedish candy has a good reputation internationally, not least because it is so accessible. The varieties are often both vegan and gluten-free and contain, of course with exceptions, less sugar than the American candy. But the fact that the candy is now trending abroad is because it just trended on social media.

It boomed earlier this year when a major influencer posted a clip with a candy salad. She had put together a carefully selected salad of Swedish sweets. It was very neat. It became a thing that went viral, says Sofie.

To the naked eye, candy salad is nothing more than a bowl of candy. But behind every candy in the bowl is a choice. Preferably, the dish or salad is composed of several different people’s own favorite sweets.

So everyone brings their mixes and then you mix it together in a salad, it’s individualistic and identity-building. It became huge on Tiktok and quickly made waves.

Fuck-it list instead of bucket list

It is not only in the USA that the candy has become popular, in the UK people have also taken an interest. And there people have started talking about “Saturday sweets” as an exciting and exotic phenomenon. And in parts of Asia, people have also opened their eyes to Swedish pick sweets.

I also think one reason is that sugar and carbohydrates have been demonized for a long time and that is starting to drop now. We are starting to see a revolt against the wellness era, people are talking about people making a fuck-it list instead of a bucket list, says Sofie Zettergren Bonnevier.