Scandinavian products have traditional appeal, but develop new fans as well

Renewed interest from second- and third-generation Scandinavians, combined with a general acknowledgement of the healthier aspects of the cuisine, has created steady business for those who import, market and sell food and kitchenware from Scandinavian countries.

A number of foods from Scandinavia, which encompasses Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway, have been mainstays in the specialty food market for a long time, explained Lars Berntson, president of Chicago Importing Co., Elgin, Ill.

Swedish crispbreads, known for their high-fiber, low-fat content, he said "have really taken hold in America," as have lingonberries, herring and gingersnaps.

Berntson, himself a second-generation Swede, said many Scandinavians came to the United States in large numbers nearly 100 years ago, so the current U.S. residents of Scandinavian descent have been "Americanized" for a long time.

"The second and third generations today don't eat like their forefathers," he said. "The challenge for us is to get them to go back to their roots."

One of the ways to do that, he said, is to make Scandinavian products user-friendly, with simple cooking instructions and recipes on the package.

Berntson created a line about seven years ago called Lars' Own, which features some Swedish-style products adapted to the American palate. The line of about a dozens SKUs began with dried yellow peassomething Berntson said Swedes typically eat in soup form every Thursday.

"We started bagging peas in our own kitchen," he said, using yellow peas grown in Minnesota. The line now includes Swedish mustard, which is co-packed in the United States, but made according to Berntson's recipe for a sweeter mustard. Because of the continuing 100 percent duties on imported mustards, Berntson said it became necessary to make his own version, rather than pay the high price to import it.

Other products under the Lars' Own label are the best-selling Swedish meatballs and a pancake mix.

Berntson also imports from all the Scandinavian countries, noting each has its specialties, such as candies and licorice from Finland, herring from Sweden, mackerel from Norway and waffle cones from Denmark.

At IKEA, the Swedish retailer that operates more than 15 stores in the United States, food accounts for about 3 percent to 3.5 percent of store sales, with new, larger stores having a bigger share, said Cecilia Friberg, U.S. Foodservice manager.

Among the best-sellers are the traditional foods of Sweden-meatballs, lingonberry jam, Marabou chocolate and Lofbergs coffee, she said.

But the stores, which stock about 90 items, offer everything from meat, fish and seafood to pastries, desserts and cookies, with many packaged snacks, condiments and beverages in between.

IKEA doesn't cross merchandise, Friberg said, but rather groups its grocery items with its foodservice department, which serves such non-Swedish favorites as hotdogs, cinnamon buns and ice cream.

Promotions, she said, focus on the four seasons: Easter in March, Midsummer in June, Crayfish in August and Christmas in November and December. During these periods, Friberg said, stores provide sampling or arrange special promotions, such as the Midsummer event the Covina, Calif., store conducted June 26 in conjunction with the Swedish Trade Council, the Consulate General of Sweden and the Swedish Travel and Tourism Council.

The traditional products of Norway and other parts of Scandinavia are what draw customers to Scan Select, a 5,000-square-foot retail shop, warehouse and kitchen facility in Seattle.

Norwegian AnneLise Berger, co-owner of Scan Select for four years with Ozzie Kvithammer, said it isn't new products that bring people to Scan Select's store and Web site but rather "the old, traditional comfort base" of foods.

Because they aren't able to import meat or some fish products, Berger said they make many products in the store, such as sausages, meatballs, fishcakes and fish pudding. Among canned fish imports that are popular are mackerel, smoked salmon and herring.

Berger said the customer base for Scandinavian products is mainly those who have traveled to the area or second- and third-generation Scandinavians. "Our customerbase is actually younger than we thought," she said, noting many are in the 35- to 55-year-old age range. She attributed this change to the next generation of Scandinavians who want to raise their children with some of the traditional foods.

Holidays are always popular times, with each country having its favorites. The Swedes, she said, seek out a special pickled cured ham and potato sausage; the Danes want their ham with a bacon rind on top, while the Norwegians ask for dried lamb leg. All the countries partake in lutefisk, which is dried cod that is soaked in lye and water to reconstitute it, and glogg mix is a popular beverage option.

Desserts are another area where tradition takes hold, with the making of rice porridge with red berry sauce, krumkake, sandbakkels and lefse.

Berger said she sells the special waffle irons used to make krumkake, as well as special rolling pins and cookie cutters.

To get the younger people interested in making lefse, a thin, potato pancake, Berger offers a mix to make the process easier. "Although a lot of them like to make it the old-fashioned way," she added.

While stores such as Scan Select cater to people with Scandinavian roots, Berntson said the growth of the category is incumbent on getting the products into more mainstream grocery and specialty stores.

"We have always sold these to more traditional delis, bakeries and gift shops," he explained, "but the real growth will come with gourmet shops and grocers. That's the area where we see growth."

Using the health message will help with this transition, he added. "The Swedes are very health conscious and environment conscious," he explained. Both crispbreads and the fish of Scandinavia, he said, "are all good for you."

Lynne Brenan, senior category director for ethnic and specialty foods at DPI Midwest, Arlington Heights, Ill., concurred with Berntson that the move is to make Scandinavian products more mainstream and focusing on the healthful properties and high manufacturing standards is one way to do so.

"When you say Scandinavian, I'm not sure the average American has an idea what you're talking about," she said. So DPI has focused on the "agricultural, health properties," she said, as well as "the high standards in terms of growing and manufacturing."

She said items such as lingonberries, which have uses from frozen desserts to chutneys, are an example of how the products have evolved into the mainstream.

Lingonberries are sold frozen and in bulk for use in foodservice operations as well as in jars within the specialty trade, she said.

Brenan also cited Anna's, a line of ginger cookies, for successfully transitioning into supermarkets from gourmet or ethnic shops, as well as Lakeröl, a brand of candies that appeals to the low-carb, sugar-free market.

Creating some Scandinavian sets for the emerging international food aisles within supermarkets has been a way to gain space for the products, she said. When developing these sets, Brenan noted, "we try to do items that don't need a lot of explanation." When support is needed, she said, it usually comes in the form of a shelf talkers, such as those used for herring, or brochures, such as the one they offer for cheeses.

Cheeses from the Scandinavian countries range from traditional farmer's cheese to one flavored with aquavit, an anise-flavored liquor, said Brenan.

Berger carries a variety of cheeses at Scan Select, including Danish havarti, Swedish vasterbotten, which is a sharp, grating cheese; Norwegian goat cheese, and both Norwegian and Danish varieties flavored with caraway.

On the environmental side, companies in Scandinavia have made a decision to minimize packaging, Berntson said, such as putting cereal in resealable paper bags.

The simple packaging design carries over to the housewares products that Scandinavian companies offer as well.

Ingerid Mohn, marketing director for Linden Sweden in Minneapolis, said although it is a small country, Sweden turns out a great number of innovative kitchen-ware items every year.

"Scandinavian design is inherently clean and simple, which makes it marketable to all customers," she said. The company offers a host of products, ranging from pepper mills and rolling pins to stainless steel measuring cups and kitchen tools to stainless and wood mortar and pestles and bowl sets.

"We have seen a shift to more stainless steel products in the last few years," said Mohn, citing the ease with which the products can be cleaned and handled.

To help retailers and their customers best understand the products and their uses, Mohn said they have designed labels and cards meant to educate the customers. "We also offer free products to our retailers so they can test it at home or in their stores," she said.

Another Scandinavian design company, Denmark's Bodum, sells its coffee and tea wares and other housewares at 60 namesake stores worldwide, as well as other retailers including Whole Foods Market, Kitchen Kapers, Sur La Table, Zabar's, Crate & Barrel, Amazon.com, Macy's and Target.

Bodum opened its first U.S. store-Bodum Café and Home Store-in Manhattan's meatpacking district in September 2001, Gourmet News reported. Its second U.S. café opened in Dallas in 2003.

Copyright United Publications, Inc. Sep 2004
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