Swedish candy gets all the attention. Fair enough — it deserves it.
But walk into a Swedish supermarket and the candy aisle is one aisle among many. There's a whole category of things Swedes eat constantly that almost never makes it abroad: the chips, the snacks, the coffee, and one tube of fish roe paste that every Swedish expat quietly imports and every visiting American refuses to try twice.
This is that aisle, explained.
Chips: OLW vs Estrella
Sweden has two major crisp brands and people have opinions about both.
OLW is the bigger name and the one you'll see most. The range is broader and the flavors lean distinctly Scandinavian.
- OLW Dill & Chives — the flagship, and the one to try first. Dill is to Swedish savory snacking what ranch is to American: it's everywhere, and it works. Cool, herby, slightly tangy. If you only buy one bag of Swedish chips, buy this.
- OLW Sourcream & Onion — a familiar flavor done with a lighter hand than the American version.
- OLW Barbecue — less sweet and less smoky than US barbecue chips. More savory overall.
- OLW Cheez Doodles — the Swedish cheese puff, and a genuine institution. Milder and less aggressively orange than Cheetos, with a cleaner cheese flavor. There's a vegan version too, which is unusually good.
- OLW Smash — the strange one, and the one people get addicted to. Salty corn cones dipped in milk chocolate. Sweet and salty at the same time, with a texture like nothing else. Explaining it doesn't work; you have to eat it.
Estrella is the rival. The Dill Chips are the ones worth importing — a different dill profile from OLW's, more pronounced and slightly sharper. Swedes tend to have a firm preference between the two brands, usually based on whichever their family bought.
You can find all of these in the Swedish snacks collection, alongside the Dave & Jon's date snacks.
Kalles Kaviar: the one you have to be brave about
Kalles Kaviar is smoked cod roe paste, sold in a toothpaste-style tube with a picture of a blond boy on the front. It is salty, fishy, slightly sweet, and unmistakably Swedish.
It is also the single most divisive thing in this article.
Here's how it's actually eaten: a thin layer on crispbread, usually with sliced hard-boiled egg on top. Not by the spoonful, not on its own, and not in the quantity you'd use peanut butter. A little goes a long way, and the egg is not optional — it softens the salt and turns the whole thing into something genuinely good.
Every Swede living abroad has a tube in the fridge. Almost no American tries it unprompted. If you have Swedish heritage and want one product that will transport a relative straight back to childhood, this is it.
Zoéga's: the coffee Swedes actually drink
Sweden is among the world's heaviest coffee-drinking nations, and fika — the coffee-and-something-sweet break — is a real daily institution rather than a marketing invention.
Zoéga's Skånerost is one of the country's best-known blends, from a roastery in Helsingborg in the south. It's a dark, full-bodied roast built for drinking black and in volume, which is how most Swedes take it. If you've been drinking light-roast third-wave coffee, it'll taste old-fashioned in a deliberate, comforting way.
Pair it with Kexchoklad and you've reconstructed a Swedish afternoon fairly accurately.
Lypsyl: not food, but definitely Swedish
Lypsyl is a lip balm, and it's on this list because an extraordinary number of people search for it without knowing it's Swedish.
It's been made since the 1940s and it's the default lip balm in Sweden the way ChapStick is in the US — the one in every coat pocket through a Nordic winter. The slide-out applicator design is distinctive enough that people who used it as kids recognize it instantly. It's a nostalgia purchase as much as a practical one, and it costs almost nothing to throw in an order.
Julmust: the Christmas soda that outsells Coke
Worth knowing about even though it's seasonal. Apotekarnes Julmust is a dark, malty soft drink brewed with hops and malt extract, sold in the run-up to Christmas. Swedes drink so much of it in December that Coca-Cola's sales in Sweden reportedly drop substantially for the month.
It tastes a bit like root beer's more serious European cousin — less vanilla, more malt, genuinely refreshing. If you're ordering in autumn, add one.
Where to start
For a first Swedish snack order that isn't candy:
- OLW Dill & Chives — the gateway. Everyone likes these.
- OLW Smash — the one you'll reorder without meaning to.
- Cheez Doodles — safe, familiar, better than you expect.
- Zoéga's Skånerost — if you drink coffee at all.
- Kalles Kaviar — only if you're genuinely curious, or buying for a Swede.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most popular snacks in Sweden? Among savory snacks, OLW and Estrella dominate the chip aisle, with dill-flavored crisps and Cheez Doodles as the standout sellers. Smash — chocolate-covered salty corn cones — has a following well beyond its size.
What is Smash? Salty corn cones coated in milk chocolate. It's a sweet-and-salty snack with no real American equivalent, and it's the Swedish snack that converts the most skeptics.
What is Kalles Kaviar and how do you eat it? Smoked cod roe paste in a tube. Spread thinly on crispbread and top with sliced hard-boiled egg. It's salty and fishy — a condiment, not a spread you eat by the spoonful.
Why is dill flavor so common in Swedish chips? Dill is a foundational herb in Swedish cooking — it appears with fish, potatoes, crayfish and pickles throughout the year. Putting it on crisps was a natural extension, and it's now the defining Swedish chip flavor.
Is Lypsyl Swedish? Yes. It's been produced since the 1940s and is the default lip balm across Sweden, with a distinctive slide-out applicator that people who grew up with it recognize immediately.
Do chips survive shipping from Sweden? They arrive intact — bags are pressurized, which protects the contents. Expect some settling. We pack within one business day, typical US delivery is 3–6 business days, and all import and duty fees are covered.
What should I buy for a Swedish relative who misses home? Kalles Kaviar, Zoéga's coffee and Lypsyl, in that order. Those three together reliably produce a stronger reaction than any amount of candy.
Ready to explore beyond the candy aisle? Browse Swedish snacks →
