A global shortage of Swedish-made candy, all thanks to a viral TikTok video? Stranger things have happened.
But that’s exactly what happened earlier this year, when TikTok influencer Marygrace Graves showed her followers the candy she’d collected during a weekly visit to BonBon, a Swedish candy store in New York.
“It’s strawberry squid. It’s the first time I’ve had them, they’re delicious,” Graves told his followers in the January video, as if letting them in on a secret.
Well, the secret was out – and other TikTok users started creating their own Swedish candy videos, leading to millions of posts, a viral internet phenomenon, and a continuing global shortage of the country’s most prized treats.
Graves’ viral post from the original video included some foamy candies and others that made her feel like they were going to break, she said. Some were oddly shaped, including a rat gum she held by the tail; and many had a unique taste, like a sour-raspberry-lemon gum that she approved of, and a grapefruit candy that she said made her nauseous.
All were imported from Sweden, a country known for making high quality candy.
What sets Swedish candies apart is that they take on unusual shapes and flavors, and move away from the additives typically found in North American candies, according to Michelina Jassal, owner of the Karameller Swedish candy store in Vancouver.
“No GMO, no corn syrup, generally [fewer] ingredients than your conventional candy that you’re going to find at the grocery store,” Jassal said of Scandinavian candy. “You don’t really get a stomach ache [feeling] that we sometimes experiment with conventional candies.
The shortage has left Canadian importers scrambling to find supply.
Jessica Borchiver, who runs Swedish online candy store Sukker Baby from her home in Toronto, said an increasingly impatient (and increasingly American) customer base pushed her to restock on a particularly brand. requested: Bubs Godis.
What was previously a steady business for Borchiver skyrocketed overnight. But the race against Bubs “turned everything upside down,” she said. “Everyone wanted to get their hands on it.”
Swedish confectioners prioritize Nordic customers
Bubs Godis is one of Sweden’s largest candy manufacturing companies. As demand increased due to its sudden virality, the company was forced to stop recruiting new international clients, a policy in effect since late December. The company was already short of inventory during the summer months, when Sweden began its annual six-week factory vacation.
Any company would be happy to see a sudden surge in international interest. But the creators of the Bubs decided to take care of their own people first.
“We have long-standing relationships with our customers in Sweden and the rest of the Nordic countries,” said Niclas Arnelin, director of international expansion at Orkla, the Swedish food and snacks company that owns Bubs. “And we need to prioritize them right now.”
They might also be their best customers: Swedes have a notorious sweet tooth, eating up to 16 kilograms of candy every year, according to a spokesperson for Business Swedish, a government and trade organization that promotes Swedish exports.
The country has a long-standing tradition called Lördagsgodisor “Saturday Candy,” in which families are known to stock up on candy. This custom originated from a study conducted in the 1950s by medical researchers who revealed that the nation’s dental health would improve if they limited their candy consumption to one day per week.
Stockholm resident Linda Rose remembers when this custom became popular. With her own children, she organized a similar ritual on Fridays.
But while a global shortage is currently hitting the foodie community, the Swedes have been spared the pain.
“There’s no shortage here,” she said. “None, at all.”
