Sophisticated sweets for the connoisseur

A bit more grown up, a little less sweet, with a texture to satisfy the connoisseur –this perfectly sums up Sweeds Cocktail Sweets. As Sweden is the country with the highest sweet consumption per person in the world, it can only mean two things: Swedes know a lot about sweets, and they can’t get enough of them.

By John Sempill | Photos: Caroline Tengen

Still, there is room for improvement, if you ask Åsa and Henrik Ifversen, founders of Sweeds Cocktail Sweets. “Our vision is to turn wine gums into a gourmet sweet. We want more luxury and more sophistication. Historically, wine gums haven’t been in the same league as chocolate,” says Henrik. But this might be about to change.

“You could say this an upgrade to the Swedish sweet,” continues Åsa. “We’re bringing sweets into fine dining, presenting wine gums in a different light. A lot of restaurants have chocolate on their menus, but they don’t yet have sweets.”

Since their launch last year, they’ve already established collaborations with several restaurants and hotels on their quest for a sweet renaissance. “We have our small ‘flow packs’, which contain three sweets. These packets are fun and sophisticated, and take the sweets to anoth- er level comparable with a luxurious piece of chocolate,” explains Åsa.

“This isn’t just another wine gum,” Henrik continues. “This is a gourmet wine gum. Sweeds have a unique texture that we think wine gums should have. And it’s vegan.”

Flavour is everything, so what can we expect from Sweeds Cocktail Sweets? Well, they offer a cocktail of spirit and liqueur flavoured all-sorts. “Everything is locally produced, with real wine and alcohol from local vineyards and distilleries,” says the couple. The alcohol evaporates in the production process, leaving pure flavour that’s suitable for all.

The elegant glass packaging further aligns Sweeds Cocktail Sweets with highend bottled beverages. “It also encourages recycling, and the packaging can be used as drinking glasses or candle holders. We’ve also had requests for refill packages, which is a push for sustainability,” explains Åsa. www.sweedscocktailsweets.se Instagram: @sweedscocktailsweets Facebook: sweedscocktailsweets

They are on the move, too. “Today, we have around 200 retailers in Sweden,” says Henrik. “We’ve just signed a contract with a distributor in Norway and we are in discussions with distributors in Finland and Denmark. And we are speaking with Switzerland, as well.” One might say that is pretty Sweed!