Sunday, June 18, 2006

Candyman

Driving back to Malmö from Linköping I decide to stop for coffee in picturesque Gränna by the Vättern lake. Gränna is (at least in Sweden) known for a special candy, polkagrisar (polka-pigs).
Curious to see how they package and brand these tourist treasures, I browsed some of the high street candy-workshops, but the result was quite disappointing. Packaging and setting are the same basic Swedish standard that I remember from being a kid, and product-development seems non-existing. Too bad, since there is a lot of potential in branded delikatessen, even if it's origin is very humble.
Two companies that have understood this are the Greek Mastiha Shop and the Slovenian Soline. The basic products - rubber extract from Chios and salt from Secovlje - are nothing special, but the product development around them is. And the packaging is delicious.
Something for the South-Swedish apple industry to learn from. I found a weak attempt in one of the Gränna shops (blog pic), but it could be so much more.

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