Craft Chocolate Makers From Northern Europe Are Taking Over The Market: What Makes Them So Special?

If you’ve seen a lot of Licorice and Lingonberry chocolate bars around lately, it’s not by chance.

In the past five years, countries like Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Norway have given birth to some of the most stylish, modern and appreciated brands on the craft chocolate market. With unique Nordic inclusions such as buckthorn, licorice root, wild berries, spruce sprouts and mushrooms, these chocolate makers have built a solid reputation by crossing the boundaries of sweet and savory in chocolate. This is precisely their unique selling proposition: even when they use the same cacao that other makers are using (Akesson’s, Kokoa Kamili, Uncommon Cacao, etc.), their creations are distinctive from anything else on the market thanks to the use of local ingredients that are traditional to their Nordic cuisines.

Chocoholics don’t seem to be intimidated by such novelties, but actually enjoy having their palates challenged by these new flavor combinations. So much so that these craft chocolate makers from the North have an exceptionally widespread distribution, from the US to Australia, from Europe to Japan, encountering the favor of many international retailers eager to have them in their assortments. Needless to say, the majority of these Nordic creations is abundantly rewarded every year by the most prestigious chocolate competitions.

But what EXACTLY has made brands like Omnom Chocolate from Iceland, Friis-Holm from Denmark, Svenska Kakaobolaget and Standout Chocolate from Sweden, Fjåk Chocolate from Norway and Goodio Chocolate from Finland so popular?

Here are the elements that these brands have in common that are probably playing a major role in their growing success.

1) A knack for stylish packaging.

It definitely helped that some of these Nordic craft chocolate makers already had a career in design, photography, product development and even game design before they started their bean-to-bar journey. But also those who have been pastry chefs and chocolatiers their entire lives admitted to have relied on the help of packaging designers since the launch of their brand. Put simply: professional design. You can almost tell whenever a chocolate bar is made in Northern Europe just by looking at the packaging: solid monochromatic colors, clean lines, geometrical shapes, multidimensionality.

Never difficult to open, fragile, or amateurish. Even the simplest designs are created to impress. The shape of the chocolate inside is also used to propose a strong branding, often with custom molds that bear the name of the company or showcase unforgettable shapes.

2) Unexpected, never-heard-before inclusions.

Nordic craft chocolate makers have brought to the table new exciting ingredients that were rarely combined with chocolate before. From cheese and mushrooms to pine wood and wild berries, they have pushed the boundaries of sweet and savory for unexpected flavor pairings. Surprisingly, chocoholics all over the world don’t seem to mind, but are actually intrigued and willing to challenge their palates.

These inclusions find their fertile ground in all kinds of chocolate, from intense high cocoa percentages to the sweetest white chocolates. The main strength of these bars is a remarkable balance of flavors, where the recipes have been perfected until the best possible result.

Chocolate bars by Fjåk Chocolate in Norway.

Many of these inclusions don’t come from far away, as Nordic craft chocolate makers strive to source their added ingredients locally and nationally. Not only collaborations with local craft food and drink businesses, but some of them go as far as to make limited batches with the wild ingredients they can find in nearby forests, making these bars truly special.

3) Attention to Organic.

The general demand for organic products in Northern Europe has always gone strong, with Denmark, Sweden and Norway among the leading 10 countries in the world with the highest organic food per capita consumption in 2019. This sensibility for organic products is transferred by Nordic chocolate makers into their creations. Rare are the chocolate bars without an organic certification proudly displayed, with whole assortments and collections entirely made of only organic ingredients (cacao, sugar and added inclusions).

For the record, using organic cacao means that harmful pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers have not been used during the farming practices, but that other techniques are put into place to keep the soil replenished and the environment prosperous.

It’s worth noticing that Nordic chocolate makers don’t make organic the unique selling proposition of their bars. Organic is only one of the many factors that contribute to their success, together with professional designs, intriguing flavors and more. An organic certification seems to be a no-brainer, second nature or simply a starting point for these brands.

4) Awards from International Competitions.

Year after year, you will find their names often in the long list of winners in international chocolate competitions. Their unique Nordic inclusions never fail to make it into the flavored/inclusion categories. But also their plain single-origin dark chocolate bars are appreciated with several Bronze, Silver and even Gold awards.

Never shy to display the award stickers on their bars, these craft chocolate makers know that these signs of recognition from the experts in the industry help with sales, buzzword and trust from the general public. So they never miss the chance to enter one or more of these competitions every year.

Award-winning chocolate bars by Friis-Holm in Denmark.

With hundreds of chocolate awards assigned every year by different competitions, now almost every craft chocolate bar on the market has one or even multiple award stickers on its packaging. But again, the success of these Nordic chocolate makers is not to bet it all on one single competitive advantage, but to bring together many strengths into the same product, awards included.

5) Vegan friendliness.

In 2021, it’s clear that veganism is here to stay. Far from being a fad diet or a passing trend, consumers are driving a strong demand for milk alternatives, meat substitutes, veggie options and plant-based versions of traditional recipes. Craft chocolate has surfed this trend for a couple of years already, with ingredients like coconut, rice, almond and now oat milk to create delectable mylk and white chocolate alternatives that are as delicious as their traditional counterparts.

Nordic craft chocolate brands seem to be particularly attentive to this soaring demand. While only few of them have created brands that are entirely vegan, many are accompanying their long-established dairy bars with innovative and uncommon plant-based alternatives.

Thanks to the inclusion of local and unique ingredients, these brands manage to craft vegan chocolate bars out of the ordinary that offer a wider range of flavors compared to what is usually available on the market. Including dairy-free options in their assortment definitely contributed to making Nordic craft chocolate makers even more popular.

6) A Nordic feel.

Uncontaminated nature, breath-taking views, snowy landscapes and untouched waters give an enchanting aura to these chocolate bars from the North. The peculiar inclusions are just the end of a journey that starts in chocolate factories located in the most amazing scenarios. Through their Social Media accounts, these craft chocolate makers bring us along in their local places, showing culinary traditions, seasonal rituals and daily habits of countries that fascinate us from afar.

This “feel” contributes to making these companies not only unforgettable, but recognizable from all the other international makers. Their surroundings become consciously or unconsciously part of their most genuine marketing strategy.

It is now clear how these Nordic brands became irresistible for both chocolate consumers and retailers: they follow the trends (organic & vegan), grab attention (with stylish and modern designs), differentiate themselves (thanks to unique flavor combinations), get the approval of the experts (with international awards) and place their creations in an enchanting atmosphere (in typical Nordic surroundings).

Craft Chocolate Makers From Northern Europe Are Taking Over The Market: What Makes Them So Special? A Marketing Analysis.