Skumjordgubbar: Swedish Foam Strawberries Explained
Skumjordgubbar are Sweden's foam strawberries: light, marshmallow-soft skum candy. What skum is, why it is nostalgic, and how shops sell it.
Skumjordgubbar are Swedish foam strawberries: strawberry-shaped pieces made from skum, the light, airy candy Swedes grew up on. The name translates literally as "foam strawberries." They are soft and sugar-sweet rather than chewy or sour, and they sit on almost every pick-and-mix wall in Sweden.
We founded TheSweetsTruck after running candy shops in Sweden, and skumjordgubbar were in every single one of them. They are not a novelty item over there, they are furniture. Below is what the word means, what skum actually is, why the foam strawberry carries so much nostalgia, and how US and Canadian shops put it to work behind the counter.
What the word means
Swedish builds long compound words, and this one is two pieces glued together: skum (foam) plus jordgubbar (strawberries). Say it roughly as "skoom-yord-gub-bar," because a Swedish "j" makes an English "y" sound. One piece is a skumjordgubbe; a scoopful is skumjordgubbar.
That naming habit is why so much Swedish candy is instantly readable once you know the parts. Skumbananer are foam bananas. Skumsvamp is a foam mushroom. Hallonskalle is a raspberry skull. If a Swedish candy name starts with "skum," you already know the texture before you taste it.
What skum candy actually is
Skum is its own category in Sweden, not a sub-type of marshmallow. It is a whipped, aerated sugar candy that sets soft and light, so it collapses under your teeth instead of resisting them like a gummy. Compared to an American marshmallow it is denser and less sticky, with a cleaner fruit flavour and a finer texture. Compared to a gummy bear it is much lighter, dissolving quickly rather than staying with you.
The single most important thing for a buyer to know is that skum is not one recipe. Some makers set their foam with gelatin, others do not, and it varies maker by maker rather than shape by shape. Two bins of foam strawberries side by side can have completely different dietary profiles. We cover the texture in more depth in our guide to Swedish foam candy and skum, and the wider category in what is Swedish candy.
Why the foam strawberry is nostalgic
Foam candy is usually the first candy a Swedish child is handed. It is soft enough for small teeth, it is not sour, and the flavour is mild. That is why the strawberry, the banana and the mushroom are the three shapes almost every Swede can picture from childhood.
The other half of the story is lördagsgodis, the Saturday candy tradition, where children fill a bag once a week from the pick-and-mix wall. Skumjordgubbar are a staple of that bag, and adults keep buying them long after they have graduated to sour skulls and licorice. If you want the background on that ritual, we wrote about why Swedes eat candy on Saturdays.
For a US or Canadian shop, that nostalgia is worth money in two directions. Swedish and Scandinavian expats recognise the shape on sight, and everyone else finds it visually charming enough to try.
The skumjordgubbar we import
The version in our catalog is Franssons Foam Strawberries / Skumjordgubbar, a 2.65 lb bag of the classic pink and red foam strawberry. Franssons is a foam specialist, and we go into the maker in more detail in our post on Franssons foam candy.
One flag to state plainly, because it matters at the shelf edge: the Franssons foam strawberries contain gelatin, so they are not vegan. We would rather you know that up front than mislabel a bin. If a customer or an account needs a plant-based foam, point them at a different SKU rather than this one.
The rest of the foam family
Foam strawberries almost never sit alone. From Franssons we also import Franssons Foam Mushrooms, the skumsvamp shape, which also contains gelatin.
Bulgari covers the same texture in a few more shapes: Bulgari Marshmallow Sour Strawberries, which put a sour sugar coating over the foam, plus Bulgari Marshmallow Mushrooms and Bulgari Marshmallow Ice Cream Cones. All three contain gelatin and are not vegan.
If you need gelatin-free foam, that is where BUBS and Frisia come in. BUBS Banana is the classic foam banana, the skumbananer shape, and it is gelatin-free and vegan. BUBS Raspberry/Cool Hallonskalle skum is the raspberry skull in 90g bags, also gelatin-free and vegan. From Frisia, Frisia Cola Foam Skulls and Frisia Bubbelgum Foam Skulls are gelatin-free foam in a 4.4 lb case. There is also Sour Foamy Zoo Monkey, a gelatin-free sour foam animal that does well with kids.
Foam strawberries and their neighbours
How shops actually sell foam strawberries
Pick-and-mix. This is the natural home. Foam pieces are light, so a scoop looks generous while weighing very little, which is friendly to both the customer and your margin. They also photograph well: the pink and red reads as "candy" from across a room, so we usually suggest placing a foam bin at eye level near the start of the wall rather than buried at the end. Our guides to the smågodis pick-and-mix wall and how to run pick-and-mix go deeper on layout and shrink.
Toppings. Foam candy is the quiet winner in dessert shops. It sits on soft serve, frozen yogurt, milkshakes and cupcakes without sinking, and it does not go rock hard in a freezer case the way some gummies do. Ice cream and dessert accounts often reorder foam faster than they reorder sours, because it doubles as an ingredient and a garnish.
Pre-bagged and gifting. A foam strawberry mixed with a foam banana and a foam mushroom makes an easy "Swedish classics" bag that needs no explanation on the label. If you sell to tourists or gift shops, that trio travels well.
One practical caution. Foam is sensitive to heat and humidity. Keep bins closed, rotate stock, and do not park a foam bin next to a sunny window or an open door in summer.
Buying skumjordgubbar by the case
We import direct from Sweden and Europe and ship from our warehouse in Santa Fe Springs, California to retailers across the US and Canada. Everything arrives DDP, so US labels and duties are already handled and there is nothing for you to clear.
You order by the case, mix and match, with no order minimum, which means you can test one bag of foam strawberries next to your existing bestsellers before committing to a full foam section. Tier 1 list pricing is public on every product page, and approved volume or strategic buyers move to Tier 2 or Tier 3. Wholesale accounts approve automatically when you apply. Checkout offers UPS Ground, UPS Express and UPS Ground Saver, and orders over $2,000 can move on pallet freight, arranged by email.
Want foam strawberries on your wall? Browse the full catalog or apply for a wholesale account, which approves automatically. Not sure how much foam a new bin needs? Get in touch and we will size it with you.
Frequently asked questions
What does skumjordgubbar mean in English?+
It is a Swedish compound word meaning "foam strawberries." Skum is foam and jordgubbar is strawberries. One piece is a skumjordgubbe.
What is skum candy?+
Skum is a whipped, aerated sugar candy that is light and soft, sitting between an American marshmallow and a gummy. It collapses quickly under the teeth instead of chewing, and it carries mild fruit flavours rather than sour ones.
Are Swedish foam strawberries vegan?+
It depends entirely on the maker. The Franssons Foam Strawberries we import contain gelatin and are not vegan. For gelatin-free foam we carry BUBS Banana (gelatin-free and vegan) and the Frisia foam skulls (gelatin-free). Our vegan Swedish candy guide lists the plant-based lines.
What is the difference between skumjordgubbar and an American marshmallow?+
Foam candy is denser, finer and less sticky than a US marshmallow, with a defined fruit flavour and a moulded shape. Marshmallows are built for roasting and hot chocolate; skum is built for the pick-and-mix scoop.
How do retailers use foam strawberries besides pick-and-mix?+
Mostly as toppings. Ice cream, frozen yogurt and dessert shops use foam pieces on soft serve, milkshakes and cupcakes because they hold their shape and colour. They also work in pre-bagged "Swedish classics" mixes for gift and souvenir shops.
How should foam candy be stored in a shop?+
Keep it cool, dry and closed. Foam takes on humidity and softens in heat faster than a firm gummy does, so rotate bins and keep them away from direct sun and doorways.
Keep reading
Gustav Lindqvist · Candy Master
Gustav grew up in Sweden on a strict Saturday-candy schedule, mixing his lördagsgodis bag at the lösgodis wall before he could spell salmiak. He has spent years tasting his way across Scandinavian candy, and now curates the range at TheSweetsTruck, from BUBS sour skulls to the saltiest licorice most people cannot finish.
Last updated 8/6/2026