What Is Swedish Candy? A Beginner's Guide
Swedish candy, or godis, is a national obsession: loose pick-and-mix sold by weight, salty licorice, sour gummies, and chocolate. Here is what makes it different and where to start.
Swedish candy, called godis in Swedish, is confectionery known for loose pick-and-mix sold by weight, bold flavors, and a strong salty-licorice (salmiak) tradition. Swedes eat more candy per person than almost anyone, much of it on Saturdays in a ritual called lordagsgodis. Compared to American candy, it leans chewier, more sour, and less intensely sweet.
What makes Swedish candy different?
The heart of it is pick-and-mix, or losgodis: walls of bins where you mix your own bag and pay by weight. That culture rewards variety and quality, and it sits alongside a love of sour and salty flavors you rarely find in American candy.
The main types of Swedish candy
Gummies and wine gums, often sour
Sour candy, including the famous skull-shaped sours
Salty licorice, or salmiak
Foam candy, called skum
Chocolate bars like Marabou and Daim
Lordagsgodis: Saturday candy
Many Swedes save candy for Saturday, a tradition called lordagsgodis that turns pick-and-mix into a weekly family ritual. It is a big reason Swedish candy is so good: makers compete hard for that Saturday bag.
Salty licorice: the dividing line
No Swedish candy wall is complete without salmiak. It is salty, sharp, and polarizing, and it is worth understanding before you dive in. We cover it fully in Salty licorice (salmiak), explained.
Where to start
If you are new, start with BUBS skull-shaped sours (also fully vegan), then build your own pick-and-mix to find your favorites. And if you arrived here via Swedish Fish, note that those are American, not real Swedish godis, as we explain in Are Swedish Fish actually Swedish?.
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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 6/5/2026