Living in the United States does not necessarily mean Swedish food is impossible to find. A packet of crispbread may turn up in a local supermarket, lingonberry jam is reasonably familiar, IKEA can satisfy certain Swedish food cravings, and Swedish candy has become much easier to encounter than it once was. But there is a big difference between finding something Swedish and finding the exact product you actually miss.
Ask a Swede in America who has been searching for a particular Zoégas coffee, the right Kalles Kaviar, a favourite tube cheese, Ekströms nyponsoppa, OLW dip mix or the crispbread they grew up eating, and the problem quickly becomes clear. The Swedish supermarket contains an enormous number of perfectly ordinary products that never become major international exports.
The good news is that many of them can still make their way across the Atlantic. This guide looks specifically at buying Swedish food in the United States: what you can already find locally, when ordering directly from Sweden makes more sense, which foods travel particularly well and what American customers should know before placing an international Swedish food order.
Where Can You Buy Swedish Food Online in the USA?
There are essentially three ways to buy Swedish groceries in America. You can buy from mainstream American retailers that happen to carry a limited number of Swedish products, shop through Scandinavian or Nordic speciality stores already operating in the United States, or order from a retailer that sources products in Sweden and ships them directly to American customers.
All three have their place. If all you want is a jar of lingonberry jam or a commonly available packet of crispbread, buying it domestically may be the simplest option. The situation changes when your shopping list starts looking more like Kalles Kaviar, Swedish coffee, proper knäckebröd, Ahlgrens Bilar, Marabou, Djungelvrål, Swedish baking ingredients, nyponsoppa, cloudberry jam, tube cheese, dip mixes, sauces and that particular mustard your family has somehow decided no substitute can replace.
That is where ordering from a broader Swedish grocery shop becomes much more useful. At Swedish Cravings, products are sourced in Sweden and the assortment is built around both the famous Swedish favourites people expect and the wonderfully ordinary supermarket products people often discover are surprisingly difficult to replace after moving abroad.
Is Swedish Food Easy to Find in the United States?
Some of it is, and some of it absolutely is not. Wasa has an established presence in the United States, and IKEA's Swedish Food Market gives American customers access to a selection of Scandinavian foods, sweets, sauces, preserves and other favourites. If you simply want a little taste of Sweden, that can be perfectly useful.
But an American assortment and a Swedish supermarket assortment are not the same thing. A Swede may not simply want “crispbread”; they may want Wasa Husman. They may not want “Swedish coffee”; they want Zoégas, Löfbergs or Arvid Nordquist, and quite possibly one particular roast from that brand. They may not want a generic fish roe spread; they want Kalles Original, Kalles Guld or Randiga.
Sometimes the product is something no international buyer would ever think of importing until a Swedish customer living abroad asks for it. That distinction is really at the heart of buying Swedish food overseas. It is often not the type of food you miss. It is the exact one.
Buying Swedish Food in America vs Ordering Directly from Sweden
Buying Swedish groceries from a US-based retailer has obvious advantages. The parcel has a shorter journey, domestic shipping may be less expensive and there are fewer international logistics to consider. If the store carries exactly what you want, that can be an excellent solution.
Ordering directly from Sweden becomes particularly interesting when selection matters. Instead of choosing from a smaller assortment selected specifically for export, you can look for products that are still part of everyday Swedish grocery shopping: different brands, varieties, pack sizes and foods that simply never received broad distribution in North America.
This becomes especially noticeable once you move beyond the handful of Swedish foods that are internationally famous. There is an enormous difference between recreating a stereotypical “Swedish meal” and recreating the cupboard you actually had at home. For someone who grew up in Sweden, the second one is usually far more important. For an American discovering Swedish food for the first time, ordering from Sweden also opens the door to a much broader picture of what Swedes genuinely eat — breakfast food, coffee, crispbread, Saturday candy, sauces, soups, biscuits, baking ingredients and, inevitably, a surprising number of things in tubes.
What Swedish Foods Are Worth Ordering from Sweden?
The best candidates usually combine three things: they are difficult to find locally, they travel reasonably well and they are distinctive enough that replacing them with an American equivalent does not quite do the job. Swedish crispbread is an obvious example, as is coffee. Candy, chocolate, licorice, preserves, baking ingredients, powdered soups, drink mixes, sauces and many packaged pantry products can also be practical choices for international orders.
Then there are foods whose importance depends entirely on the person ordering them. One customer may happily live without Swedish chocolate but refuse to compromise on coffee. Another can drink American coffee perfectly happily but has been looking for Kalles for six months. Someone else only wants pärlsocker because every cinnamon bun they have baked since leaving Sweden looks unfinished without it.
There is no universally correct Swedish shopping list, and that is rather the point. The products people miss most are often not Sweden's most famous foods at all. They are simply the things that used to be there every day.
Can You Buy Kalles Kaviar in the USA?
Yes, Kalles Kaviar can be found through some speciality retailers in the United States and can also be ordered from Sweden where shipping and import conditions allow it. For many Swedes in America, however, the bigger problem is finding the variety they actually want.
Kalles is not simply one blue-and-yellow tube anymore. There are several versions, ranging from the familiar Original to stronger, milder and alternative varieties. If you have never tried Kalles before, there is also a considerably better introduction than squeezing a heroic amount directly into your mouth and immediately questioning an entire nation.
Try it the Swedish way instead: a piece of bread or crispbread, sliced boiled egg and a sensible squeeze of Kalles on top. Suddenly Sweden begins making considerably more sense.
For a much deeper look at the different varieties, history, storage and how Swedes actually eat it, read Where Can You Buy Kalles Kaviar Outside Sweden? You can also Shop Kalles Kaviar or explore our broader Swedish Kaviar collection.
Swedish Candy Is Becoming Easier to Find in America
Swedish candy is one area where American shoppers have considerably more choice than they once did. Sour gummies, foam sweets, Scandinavian-style pick-and-mix and salty licorice have attracted a much wider international audience, and specialist candy shops have introduced more Americans to the Swedish tradition of lördagsgodis — Saturday candy.
That is wonderful, but Sweden also eats things other than gummies. For somebody searching specifically for Ahlgrens Bilar, Djungelvrål, certain Malaco products, Marabou or a childhood favourite that never became fashionable on social media, selection still matters. Once the shopping list moves into coffee, breakfast foods, baking ingredients, sauces, preserves or pantry staples, the Swedish candy boom becomes much less helpful.
Candy is therefore a very good door into Swedish food culture. It is simply not the whole house.
Swedish Coffee in the USA
American customers obviously do not need Sweden to teach them how to find coffee. The United States has an enormous coffee culture of its own, but that is not really the problem for a Swedish expat. If you have drunk one particular roast every morning for years, being told that another perfectly good coffee is available does not necessarily solve anything.
Zoégas, Löfbergs and Arvid Nordquist all have loyal drinkers in Sweden, and even within one brand the difference between roasts can matter enormously to someone who knows exactly what their morning coffee is supposed to taste like. Coffee is also particularly convenient to include in an international grocery order because unopened packs are compact, sturdy and easy to combine with other foods.
For an American discovering Swedish food rather than missing it, coffee offers a natural introduction to another Swedish institution: fika. The coffee matters, but so does stopping for it.
Swedish Crispbread: Familiar, but Not Always the Same
America already has a relationship with Wasa, which means finding a Swedish crispbread can be relatively straightforward. Finding the particular knäckebröd you remember from Sweden is another matter entirely. Someone who grew up eating Husman may specifically want Husman, while another person may be searching for Frukost, Surdeg, Leksands, round crispbread or another favourite.
That may sound unnecessarily particular until you remember that bread is one of the most habitual foods we eat. You rarely think deeply about your everyday bread until somebody takes it away. Then suddenly the precise texture, thickness and flavour become remarkably important.
Knäckebröd is also exceptionally well suited to travelling long distances. It is dry, shelf-stable and designed to keep. Its one weakness is fairly obvious: it is crisp. Careful packing therefore matters enormously unless the customer intended to order Swedish breadcrumbs.
For more about the history and culture behind it, read What Is Knäckebröd? Sweden's Crispbread Explained.
Explore Swedish Crispbread & Bread
Lingonberries, Cloudberries and the Swedish Pantry
Lingonberry jam may be one of Sweden's better-known food exports, partly because of its famous relationship with Swedish meatballs, but a Swedish pantry goes considerably further. Cloudberry preserves, rosehip soup, blueberry soup, mustard, sauces, syrups, baking ingredients, dip mixes and an assortment of strangely specific pantry products are part of everyday Swedish food in a way that international “Scandinavian food” selections do not always capture.
Lingonberries are a particularly good example. If you have only encountered lingonberry jam beside meatballs, you could be forgiven for assuming that is its sole purpose. In Swedish homes it is far more versatile, appearing beside meat dishes, potatoes, pancakes and traditional home cooking.
Cloudberries — hjortron — are another favourite that can be surprisingly difficult to find outside Scandinavia. Fresh cloudberries are highly seasonal and hardly the most practical thing to send across an ocean. Cloudberry jam is considerably more cooperative.
Explore Swedish Jams & Preserves
Swedish Baking Ingredients You Suddenly Miss Abroad
Nobody thinks pärlsocker is an essential part of life until they attempt to make Swedish cinnamon buns without it. Then it becomes an emergency.
Swedish recipes have an amusing habit of mentioning ingredients as though every supermarket on earth naturally stocks them: vaniljsocker, pärlsocker, ljus sirap and various baking products that are completely ordinary in Sweden but can require substitutions, conversion charts and surprisingly heated internet discussions elsewhere.
Sometimes a local substitute works perfectly well. Sometimes you spend an hour adapting the recipe only to discover that ordering the Swedish ingredient would have been considerably easier. For anyone who regularly bakes Swedish cakes, cookies, buns or breads in America, keeping a small Swedish baking cupboard can remove a lot of guesswork.
Explore Swedish Baking Ingredients
What About Swedish Breakfast Food?
Breakfast is one of the places where homesickness hides particularly well. Nobody necessarily dreams about an extravagant Swedish breakfast; they miss the ordinary one. The crispbread, the cheese, Kalles with boiled egg, the coffee, perhaps O'boy for the children, marmalade, cereal or something that has been sitting on Swedish breakfast tables for so long that nobody thought of it as particularly Swedish until they moved thousands of kilometres away.
That is also why Swedish breakfast products make such good gifts for expats. They are not dramatic or luxurious. They are familiar, and sometimes familiarity is exactly what somebody wants from a parcel from home.
For people discovering Swedish food for the first time, breakfast is also a surprisingly good place to start because it shows a side of Sweden that restaurant menus rarely do. Swedish food culture is not only about celebratory dishes. Much of it lives in completely ordinary weekday routines.
Can Swedish Food Be Shipped to the United States?
Many packaged Swedish foods can be shipped to the United States, but that does not mean every food can automatically be sent under exactly the same conditions. US food imports are regulated, and requirements can vary depending on the type of product, its ingredients, how it is shipped and who is sending it.
Packaged shelf-stable foods such as coffee, crispbread, candy, chocolate, preserves and many pantry products are generally much more practical international purchases than highly perishable foods or products containing ingredients subject to additional controls. Meat, certain animal products and some other foods can face additional restrictions.
The important point is not that Swedish food is somehow uniquely difficult to import. It is simply that food shipments need to be handled properly. If you are unsure about a particular product, checking before ordering is always sensible.
What About Refrigerated Swedish Food?
This deserves a little nuance because a product being normally stored in the refrigerator does not automatically tell you everything about how it can or cannot be transported.
There is an important difference between a product whose normal long-term storage recommendation is refrigeration and a highly perishable food that requires an uninterrupted refrigerated supply chain throughout transportation. Salt content, preservation method, packaging, expected transit time and the individual product all matter.
That is why refrigerated products should be considered individually rather than putting everything normally found in a Swedish refrigerator into one category. For genuinely temperature-sensitive products that require continuous refrigeration, international shipping becomes much more complicated. For other preserved and packaged foods, a short transport period and normal long-term storage are different questions.
If you are unsure about one particular product, ask before ordering rather than making assumptions based solely on which aisle of the supermarket it normally comes from.
Will I Pay Customs or Import Fees When Ordering Swedish Food to the USA?
This is an especially important question because US import rules have changed. For many years, international shoppers became accustomed to hearing about the US $800 de minimis threshold and assuming that parcels below that value would automatically enter duty-free. That is no longer a safe assumption.
Imported shipments can now be subject to applicable duties, taxes and fees even at lower values, which makes it important to look at how the individual retailer handles its shipments rather than relying on old advice found in forum posts or outdated shipping guides.
For Swedish Cravings orders, our current shipping policy is that applicable duties and taxes are handled before shipment where applicable, so customers should not receive an unexpected additional customs bill when the parcel arrives.
That distinction matters. There may be costs involved in importing products into the United States; what matters to the customer is whether those costs have already been dealt with or whether a carrier is going to ask for additional payment later. When comparing international retailers, this is worth checking before placing an order.
How Much Does It Cost to Ship Swedish Food from Sweden to the USA?
There is no single useful answer because international shipping depends on the weight and size of the order. A bag of candy and four kilograms of coffee are not the same parcel. Glass jars add weight quickly, crispbread is light but bulky, and coffee is relatively compact but becomes heavy if you order several packs.
This is why international grocery shopping often makes more sense when you think about the whole box rather than one product at a time. Paying international shipping for one small chocolate bar rarely makes sense. Combining crispbread, coffee, Kalles, candy, baking ingredients and a few pantry favourites spreads that shipping cost across an entire Swedish grocery order.
It can also be useful to think strategically about weight. If your basket is already close to the next shipping bracket, adding another heavy jar may affect the cost more than adding a lightweight packet of candy or baking ingredient. Nobody said buying Swedish food abroad required logistics skills, but eventually most expats seem to develop them anyway.
How Long Does Swedish Food Delivery to the USA Take?
Delivery time depends on the carrier, shipping method, destination and customs processing. A parcel travelling to New York and one travelling to a remote part of Alaska obviously do not have identical journeys.
Swedish Cravings currently estimates approximately 5–12 business days for deliveries to the United States and Canada, although international delivery times are always estimates rather than guarantees. Carrier delays, weather, customs processing and particularly busy holiday periods can all affect the journey.
If you are ordering Swedish food for Christmas, a birthday, Midsummer or another date that cannot conveniently be postponed because your parcel is somewhere over the Atlantic, give yourself some margin. The knäckebröd may be patient. Your guests may not be.
Is IKEA the Best Place to Buy Swedish Food in America?
IKEA has done more than almost any other company to introduce Swedish food to people outside Sweden. For many Americans, IKEA may be where they first tried Swedish meatballs, lingonberries, elderflower drinks, Swedish-style sweets or Scandinavian seafood, so its Swedish Food Market is a perfectly sensible place to look.
But IKEA is not a Swedish supermarket, and that distinction matters. A Swedish grocery store contains thousands of everyday products from hundreds of brands, many of which have no reason whatsoever to appear in an international IKEA assortment.
If you want Swedish flavours generally, IKEA can be very useful. If you want the exact packet your grandmother bought, the precise coffee you drank at home or a particular supermarket brand, a specialist Swedish retailer is more likely to help. The two serve different purposes.
Can You Order Several Swedish Brands Together?
Yes, and this is one of the biggest advantages of using a broader Swedish grocery shop. You do not necessarily want a Kalles shop, a coffee shop, a candy shop, a crispbread shop and then a separate parcel containing one lonely jar of lingonberry jam.
A real Swedish shopping basket does not work like that. It jumps cheerfully between categories: coffee, Kalles, biscuits, candy, crispbread, jam, soup, baking ingredients and something you definitely did not intend to buy until you saw it and remembered exactly what it tasted like.
Combining different Swedish brands and categories in one order can also make international shipping more sensible. Instead of paying several shops to send several small parcels, you can build something much closer to an actual Swedish grocery order.
What Should You Put in Your First Swedish Food Order?
If you are American and completely new to Swedish food, I would not fill your first box exclusively with the strangest products Sweden has ever produced. Variety is far more interesting.
Start with a proper Swedish crispbread and something to put on it. Add Swedish coffee, lingonberry jam, one classic chocolate or candy, something salty and perhaps one product you have never encountered before. Kalles is an obvious candidate if you are feeling adventurous.
A good first selection might therefore contain knäckebröd, Kalles Kaviar, coffee, Ahlgrens Bilar or Marabou, lingonberry jam and something such as salty licorice, nyponsoppa or a Swedish baking ingredient.
The goal should be to open the parcel and see several different parts of Swedish everyday food culture rather than a box built entirely around one category.
That is also the idea behind our Taste of Sweden Box: a mixture of familiar Swedish flavours that gives someone a broader introduction to the Swedish pantry.
Where Do Swedish Expats in America Find the Food They Miss?
There is no single answer because every Swede abroad eventually develops their own system. Some bring half a suitcase of food home after visiting Sweden. Some have family members send parcels. Some discover a Scandinavian shop within driving distance. Some buy whatever they can locally and order the difficult things online.
Most end up doing a little of everything.
What people miss is also remarkably personal. One person desperately wants Kalles. Another could not care less about kaviar but would happily cross several state lines for the correct coffee. Someone else has managed perfectly well for years until they suddenly remember a biscuit, soup or candy they have not eaten since childhood.
That is one of the fascinating things about food and homesickness. It is rarely the expensive or impressive food that gets you.
It is usually something very ordinary.
Swedish Food as a Gift or Care Package
A Swedish food box also makes a particularly personal gift for somebody living in America. For an American interested in Sweden, it can be an adventure filled with unfamiliar flavours. For a Swede abroad, the best box is often completely different.
If you are sending something to a Swedish expat, ask what they actually miss. Their answer may not be glamorous. It may be coffee, Kalles, a particular biscuit, crispbread or a packet of soup that costs very little in Sweden and somehow becomes emotionally priceless after years away.
A good Swedish care package does not need to contain the fanciest Swedish foods. It needs to contain something the recipient recognises immediately.
That moment when someone opens the box and says, “I haven't had this in years,” is difficult to beat.
Frequently Asked Questions About Buying Swedish Food in the USA
Can I buy authentic Swedish food online in the USA?
Yes. Swedish products are available through American Scandinavian retailers, selected mainstream stores and businesses that ship products directly from Sweden. The best option depends largely on how specific your shopping list is.
Can I order Swedish food directly from Sweden to the United States?
Yes, many packaged Swedish foods can be shipped from Sweden to American customers. Individual products may be affected by US food-import restrictions, so not every product should automatically be treated the same way.
Can I buy Kalles Kaviar in America?
Yes. Kalles can be found through some specialist retailers and can also be ordered from Sweden where shipping conditions allow. If you are looking for a particular variety, buying from a Swedish source can offer a broader selection.
Can Swedish candy be shipped to the USA?
Many packaged Swedish candies and chocolates are well suited to international shipping, although weather and heat can obviously matter for chocolate during warmer periods.
Can I order Swedish coffee from Sweden?
Yes. Packaged ground coffee is one of the more practical Swedish products to order because it is shelf-stable and relatively easy to ship.
Does IKEA sell Swedish groceries in the United States?
Yes, IKEA has Swedish food products in the US, although its assortment should not be confused with the much broader selection found in an ordinary Swedish supermarket.
Do I have to pay import fees when ordering Swedish food from Sweden?
US import rules have changed, and imported shipments may be subject to duties, taxes or fees. How these are handled depends on the retailer and shipping arrangement. Swedish Cravings' current policy is to handle applicable duties and taxes before shipment where applicable so customers do not receive an unexpected additional customs charge upon delivery.
What Swedish foods travel particularly well?
Coffee, crispbread, candy, chocolate, preserves, baking ingredients, powdered foods and many other shelf-stable pantry products are generally practical choices.
What Swedish food should I try first?
Start with several different flavours rather than just one category: crispbread, coffee, lingonberry jam, chocolate or candy and perhaps Kalles or salty licorice if you want something distinctly Swedish.
A Little Piece of Sweden Across the Atlantic
Food has a peculiar ability to make distance disappear for a moment. The smell of the right coffee can put you back at a kitchen table in Sweden. One bite of a childhood candy can undo twenty years in about three seconds. A piece of Husman with Kalles and egg can make an American breakfast table suddenly feel remarkably familiar.
And if you did not grow up with any of these foods, there is something equally enjoyable about discovering them. Swedish food becomes much more interesting once you look beyond meatballs and cinnamon buns and begin exploring the things people actually keep in their cupboards, eat for breakfast, serve with coffee and buy for Saturday evening.
That is the side of Swedish food we love most — not only Sweden's famous dishes, but the ordinary favourites people genuinely live with.
So whether you are a Swede rebuilding a familiar pantry in America, buying something from home for somebody you miss, or an American wondering why an entire country seems so emotionally attached to crispbread and food in tubes, there is plenty left to discover.
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