What is Swedish Candy

If you've never tried Swedish candy, you're missing one of the most genuinely different food experiences available. Not different for its own sake — different because Sweden has spent generations obsessing over texture, flavor intensity, and a singular ingredient that most Americans have never heard of: salmiak.

This guide covers everything you need to know about Swedish candy: what it is, why it tastes the way it does, the types and brands worth knowing, and the cultural tradition that made Sweden one of the world's most candy-obsessed nations.

What Is Swedish Candy?

Swedish candy — called godis in Swedish — is a broad category of confections produced in and associated with Sweden. It includes gummies, foam candies, licorice, sour candies, wine gums, and chocolate, but what makes Swedish candy distinct is the approach to flavor and texture that underpins all of it.

Swedish candy tends to be:

• More intensely flavored than American candy, using real fruit concentrates rather than artificial flavoring
• Chewier and denser, with a higher gelatin content that creates a satisfying pull-apart texture
• Less sweet overall, with more complex flavor profiles that balance sugar against sour, salty, and bitter notes
• Built around licorice — both sweet and salty — in a way that is entirely foreign to most American palates

The result is candy that feels more like an experience than a snack. Once you've had a proper Swedish bilar or a piece of Fazer sour gummy, American gummy bears start to feel one-dimensional.

Why Swedish Candy Tastes Different

The difference starts with ingredients. Swedish candy makers have historically used higher-quality gelatin, real fruit juice, and less corn syrup than the industrial candy manufacturing that dominates American shelves. The gelatin used in Swedish gummies gives them a firmer, more elastic chew — closer to a handmade French pâte de fruit than a Haribo.

But the biggest flavor difference is salmiak.

What Is Salmiak?

Salmiak (also called sal ammoniac) is licorice candy flavored with ammonium chloride — a salt compound that creates an intensely savory, briny, almost medicinal flavor. It is wildly popular across Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Finland, but almost completely unknown in the United States.

If you've never tried salmiak, it's difficult to describe. It's savory in a way candy shouldn't be. It's salty without being like potato chips. It has a faint anise-like bitterness that lingers. Most Americans try it and have a strong reaction — either immediate disgust or instant addiction. There is very rarely a middle ground.

The reason salmiak defines Swedish candy culture is that it represents a flavor philosophy Americans rarely apply to sweets: intensity and complexity over pure sugary sweetness. Swedish candy earns its reputation precisely because it doesn't try to please everyone.

The Role of Sourness

Swedish candy also takes sour seriously in a way that goes beyond the sour patch kids model. Swedish sour candies use citric and malic acid in higher concentrations, creating a lip-puckering sharpness that gives way to real fruit flavor rather than just sweetness. Fazer's sour gummies and Malaco's sour fish are considered benchmarks by candy enthusiasts.

Popular Types of Swedish Candy

Swedish candy spans a wide range of formats. Here are the types you're most likely to encounter:

Bilar (Foam Cars)

Made by Ahlgrens, bilar are soft foam candy shaped like vintage cars. They have a marshmallow-like texture but with a subtle raspberry flavor and a slight chew. They are the best-selling individual candy in Sweden and have been for decades. Bilar are approachable for first-time Swedish candy eaters — sweet, light, and completely unlike anything sold in American stores.

Salmiak Licorice

The backbone of Swedish candy culture. Salmiak licorice comes in dozens of formats — soft coins, hard diamonds, double-salted pellets, licorice pipes filled with salmiak powder. Malaco is the dominant brand, but nearly every Swedish candy maker has a salmiak line. If you want the authentic Swedish candy experience, salmiak is non-negotiable.

Wine Gums

Swedish wine gums (vingummi) are firmer and less sweet than British or American wine gums. They're chewy without being sticky, and the fruit flavors — raspberry, blackcurrant, lemon, orange — are clean and distinct. Malaco's Classic wine gums are a staple in every Swedish household.

Sour Gummies

Swedish sour gummies hit harder than most American equivalents. Fazer's sour cola bottles and Malaco's sour fish are standouts — the acid level is high enough that your mouth will water before you've even finished chewing. The fruit flavor underneath is real and punchy.

Skum (Foam Candy)

Skum means "foam" in Swedish, and this category covers marshmallow-like candies with a slightly denser structure. Skum bananas and skum strawberries are classics — soft, sweet, with a fruity dusting on the outside and a vanilla-ish foam interior.

Polkagris

The red and white striped peppermint stick that has become an icon of Swedish candy. Originally from the city of Gränna, polkagris are hard candy sticks made with peppermint oil. They're sold in paper bags in tourist shops across Sweden and represent the sweeter, more gift-oriented side of Swedish candy culture.

Swedish Candy Brands Worth Knowing

Most Swedish candy brands are not exported to the US through normal retail channels. You won't find them at Target or Walmart. Here are the key players:

Ahlgrens

The maker of bilar. Ahlgrens has been producing Swedish foam candy since 1953 and remains a household name. Their products are sweet and approachable — a good entry point for people new to Swedish candy.

Malaco

The dominant force in Swedish candy. Malaco makes wine gums, salmiak, sour candies, and licorice across dozens of product lines. If you've had Swedish candy, you've had Malaco. Their salmiak and wine gum range is considered the gold standard.

Fazer

Technically a Finnish company, but deeply woven into Swedish candy culture. Fazer is best known internationally for Fazer Blue chocolate, but their sour gummies and flavored licorice are equally impressive. The Fazer brand represents the more premium end of Scandinavian candy.

Skånska Drömmar

A smaller, artisan-leaning brand from southern Sweden. Their products tend toward classic Swedish recipes — crisp butter cookies, traditional licorice, regional specialties. Less widely known but beloved by Swedes who care about craft.

Cloetta

One of the largest Nordic candy companies, Cloetta produces some of the most recognizable Swedish candy formats including Polly (a chocolate and caramel bar), Kexchoklad (a wafer chocolate bar), and a range of pick-and-mix staples sold in every Swedish godisbutik.

The Lördagsgodis Tradition

No article about Swedish candy is complete without explaining Lördagsgodis — Saturday candy — the cultural ritual that defines how Sweden eats sweets.

In 1953, Sweden's National Board of Health launched a public health campaign recommending that candy consumption be restricted to once a week, on Saturdays, to reduce tooth decay and sugar intake. The campaign worked — not by eliminating candy, but by transforming it into a weekly event.

Today, Swedish families still observe Lördagsgodis. On Saturday mornings, children (and adults) go to the godisbutik — candy shop — and fill paper bags from large open bins of bulk candy. They weigh the bags at the counter and pay by the gram. The ritual is as much about the selection process as it is about the eating: standing in front of a wall of candy bins, picking out your favorites, mixing sour fish with salmiak coins and foam cars.

Sweden consumes roughly 17 kilograms of candy per person per year — one of the highest rates in the world. Saturday candy is why.

Saturday Candy Club is named for this tradition. The idea is simple: candy is better when it means something. When you look forward to it. When it's an event rather than an impulse. That's what Lördagsgodis taught the world, and what we're trying to bring to your door every week.

Where to Buy Swedish Candy in the US

Swedish candy is genuinely difficult to find in the United States. A handful of Scandinavian specialty stores carry it in major cities, and some brands have limited Amazon availability — though quality and freshness are inconsistent through grey-market importers.

The best way to get authentic, fresh Swedish candy in the US is through a curated importer who sources directly and turns inventory fast. That's exactly what we do at Saturday Candy Club — hand-selected Swedish candy mixes shipped to your door, with a monthly subscription option so you never run out.

Browse our Swedish candy mixes →