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The history of pick & mix is actually quite short – and it started in Scandinavia
The United States has been fascinated by the Nordic custom that many take for granted.
Published
Pick & mix is as much a given as treats on Saturdays.
But not everyone will understand what a Norwegian or Swede means by Saturday treats.
This sweet tradition originated in Sweden.
Became widespread in the 1980s
Ulrika Torell at the Nordic Museum in Sweden wrote about this in an article on the museum's website (link in Swedish):
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“Selling loose candy is a sales technique that was introduced in Sweden in the 1980s. The idea was that people would buy more if they could pick and choose the varieties themselves. This was something retailers learned after self-service systems were introduced in stores.”
Could it really be true that the Swedes’ love of sweets would enable them to pull ahead of the nation most known for its sweet tooth, the USA?
Built to awaken the Americans’ inner child
The Washington Post, at least, gives Europeans, and especially Swedes, much of the credit for a new type of candy store that has begun appearing in several American cities. In December 2025, they wrote about the sweet wave that swept across the country.
The newspaper describes the stores as being designed to awaken the inner child in those who enter. People can pick and mix their own candy.
Many people have probably felt the same way in a large candy store in Sweden. The pick & mix giant CandyKing, despite its English name, is Swedish in origin. It was founded in 1984, the decade when pick & mix candy as we know it today was born.
But pick & mix was not completely unknown before it became widespread in the 1980s, says Annechen Bahr Bugge. She studies eating habits at the SIFO Consumption Research Institute at OsloMet.
Fruit and tobacco hand in hand
Half of the Norwegian population says they eat pick & mix. 34 per cent eat it once a month or more often, according to Bugge.
“At the beginning of the 20th century, chocolate was considered a luxury item. Sweets were usually handmade, expensive, and reserved for special occasions,” she says.
Being able to pick and mix countless different types of sweets was still a long way off.
There was also quite a different way of thinking about what counted as a treat.
“Fruit came to Norway before vitamins were discovered, so fruit was classified as an indulgence product. The early kiosks often sold fruit and tobacco,” says Bugge.
It was during the 1970s that pick & mix was slowly but surely introduced in Norway – though not in self-service form, Bugge explains. Back then, customers would order from someone behind the kiosk counter, asking for five salty licorice candies, ten peppermint sweets, or whatever else took their fancy.
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“It’s quite interesting: We've gone from choosing sweets one by one to going to the cinema, where children are expected to manoeuvre huge buckets and scoops of sweets. Everything has become much bigger,” says Bugge.
Cross-border shopping since 1946
Exactly how pick & mix made its way across the Swedish border is somewhat uncertain. But shopping trips to Sweden have actually been a leisure activity for many Norwegians since shortly after World War II.
The bridge across to Svinesund was opened by the Norwegian King Haakon in 1946. The number of privately owned cars increased, and Norwegians became aware of the lower prices on the other side of the border. The more people in the car, the more they could bring back with them. This resulted in many cars packed to the brim crossing the border, as reported by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK in 2012 (link in Norwegian).
A few decades later, it was clear that pick & mix had gained a foothold in Sweden. In the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten's correspondent’s report of 25 January 1985, the journalist wrote about a doctor who was concerned about the increasing number of new 'loose sweet' stores. More and more department stores and kiosks adopted the practice.
The doctor and a dentist conducted a study visit to 20 grocery stores in the city of Skövde. To their disappointment, they discovered that the pick & mix candy was positioned right next to the cash register in every single one, making it especially easy for people to give in to temptation. The doctor wondered where this would all end. And 41 years later, we know that it has not ended yet.
Pick & mix in clothing stores
In the Norwegian local newspaper Dalane Tidende from 1 November of the same year, we find an advertisement suggesting that pick & mix candy had made its way to Egersund. The newly opened Snoopi store advertised loose candy sold by weight.
On February 14, 1987, the local newspaper Nordmørsposten wrote about a candy craze in Nordmøre. The article reported great excitement about candy corners popping up in grocery stores, video stores, and even clothing stores.
They wrote that loose candy sold by weight had been common in 'the old days' – although we do not know what was considered the old days in 1987.
But this practice had apparently almost disappeared for a few years after pre-packaged bags of sweets became more common. In Kristiansund in 1987, however, it was apparently almost impossible to walk into a store without being tempted by pick & mix, according to the newspaper.
Sugar consumption has dropped
Candy has become easier to get, and the quantities have become larger. But it may be that Norwegians still stick to eating sweets only on Saturdays, with some honourable exceptions for visits to the cinema.
"Some people say that treats have not only increased in size, but have also expanded in terms of when we consume them," Bugge says.
You can get liquorice in orange packaging for Halloween, red hearts for Valentine's Day, not to mention all the yellow Easter candy.
Many Norwegians fill their Easter eggs with pick & mix. In a 2024 article on Godt.no, the Norwegian grocery chain Kiwi said that sales increase by around 30 per cent at Easter (link in Norwegian).
But Saturdays are usually the big sales day in Norway. The food supplier Norgesgruppen told NRK that they sell five times as much pick & mix on Saturdays as they do on a weekday (link in Norwegian).
“At the same time, we see that sugar consumption has declined in recent years,” says Bugge.
An important factor in this is that people now mostly choose sugar-free soft drinks.
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For every taste and need
Pick & mix candy as we know it in Norway and Sweden may not be American. Nevertheless, Bugge believes we should not leave the United States out of the story entirely.
“The concept of snacking originally came from the USA, but now Nordic snacking traditions are making their way back across the Atlantic. Food and eating habits move back and forth across cultures,” she says.
Pick & mix is a form of snacking culture that we have adapted to our own culture, according to Bugge.
“Times change, and we change with them. Today, there are vegan options, halal and gelatine-free varieties, and candies with less sugar. The pick & mix selection has become increasingly diverse to reflect people's different preferences,” she says.
References:
Aftenposten (25 January 1985) Sverige festlig? Retrieved from the National Library's online library (requires access).
Advertisement in Dalane Tidende (1 November 1985) Retrieved from the National Library's online library.
Tøsse, A. (14 February 1987) Godteribølgen. Nordmørsposten. Retrieved from the National Library's online library.
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Translated by Nancy Bazilchuk
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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