Scandinavian food and drink suppliers are looking to ramp up their presence on UK shelves.

The Swedish Trade Council told The Grocer it aimed to double its food and drink exports by 2020 and that the UK was a “very important market in terms of reaching this goal”.

“We have seen a great upswing in the interest in, and sales of, Swedish food and drink products to the UK, helped by the extensive coverage of the country and its cuisine in British media,” said the trade council’s project manager Gustaf Bergström.

The council was involved with Ocado’s Scandinavian shop-within-a-shop project, which launched in September this year with almost 140 food items.

Next March, it will be hosting a Swedish pavilion at the IFE 2013 food and drink show in London featuring 10 suppliers, alongside several Danish and Norwegian exhibitors. At the last IFE, in 2011, no Swedish suppliers were represented and only a handful of Danish companies.

Scandinavian products to be showcased at the event will include cheese, seafood, cordials, jams and beverages.

The health benefits of Scandinavian food were a key reason for its growing popularity in the UK, said Bronte Aurell, founder of London-based grocery store and café business Scandi Kitchen.

“It uses lots of rye, berries and oily fish,” she said. “We like treats but the staple foods are very good for you.”

Predicting that the open sandwich would be “the next big thing”, Aurell added that the Swedish food market would become more focused on British consumers than ex-pats.

“This is a natural development when introducing a food culture: it starts as an exclusive club but eventually the people will determine what is most popular,” she said.

Topics