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July/August 2015 Vol 86:06 $4.95
Royal wedding 2015: Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist’s magical day
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2015
Food innovation Viktoria Tocca interview Discovering Swedish oysters
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Swedish Press is the world’s leading magazine on all good things Swedish. An authority on design, business, culture and travel since 1929, Swedish Press delivers insightful news and commentary in a visually striking format. With a nod to the past, and a peek to the future, Swedish Press is your go-to source for updates and inspiration from Sweden. SWEDISH PRESS (ISSN 0839-2323) is published ten times per year (Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July/Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan) by Swedish Press Inc, 11616 Papagallo Court, San Diego, CA 92124 for $39 per year. Periodical postage paid at Blaine, WA 98230-9998 (No. USPS 005544). US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Swedish Press, PO Box 420404, San Diego, CA 92142-0404 OFFICE: 9040 Shaughnessy Street, Vancouver, BC V6P 6E5 Canada US MAILING ADDRESS: PO Box 420404, San Diego, CA 92142-0404 WEBSITE www.swedishpress.com E-MAIL info@swedishpress.com TEL +1 360 450 5858 TOLL FREE +1 866 882 0088 PUBLISHER Claes Fredriksson Claes@swedishpress.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tatty Maclay Tatty@swedishpress.com ART DIRECTOR Joan Law Fredriksson Joan@swedishpress.com SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Arkus Fredriksson Arkus@swedishpress.com
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4 Letters to the Editor 5 From the Editor’s Desk Swedish Headlines 6 Headline News: Massiv militärövning i norra Sverige 7 News at a Glance 8 Swedes in the News
Feature 10 Food Innovation: a necessity for producers, retailers and consumers ABBA The Museum. Photo: Jonas Bilberg
Lifestyle 18 Top Sju 19 Museum: ABBA The Museum
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Photo: Viktoria Tocca
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Interview 12 Viktoria Tocca: I had to sing and my voice grew... from gold-coloured champagne to mature whisky Heritage 15 Svenska ostron är rena hälso bomben!
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Royal Wedding 2015 16 Stockholm glittered in the summer sun as Princess Estelle was Prince Carl of the bridemaids. Philip married one Photo: Mattias Edwall his Sofia Kungahuset.se
Business 7 Business News 9 Company File: Oatly
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Swedish Press
Hemma hos 20 Design: Ikea’s concept for the kitchen of 2025 21 Treats à la Lisa 22 Lär Dig Svenska 23 Comic: Midsommar In the Loop 24 Landskapsnyheterna 27 Canada, US & Beyond 28 Calendar and Events 29 Ads and Info 30 Sista Ordet Sweden takes the Hamptons! 31 Press Byrån Cover: H.R.H. Prince Carl Philip and H.R.H. Princess Sofia on their wedding day on June 13. Photo: Mattias Edwall/Kungahuset.se
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Food Innovation: a necessity for producers, retailers and consumers By Märit Beckeman
I
n 1995 Sweden joined the EU and their “home market” suddenly became much larger. One very visible result is that more than 50% of what is on the shelves in Sweden is now imported. Not surprisingly, retailers in Sweden are following the development seen in other EU ccountries; the UK chain Tesco is seen as one of the most innovative leaders. This means an increasing amount of private labels are appearing, resulting in increasing frustration among food producers, as retailers quickly copy successful producer products. Still, looking at innovations, retailers have been quite innovative in how to do business and satisfy customers.
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As an example some years ago, the largest retailer in Sweden claimed to be the first worldwide to have launched, on a broad scale, individual offerings to each customer based on previous purchases. Initially comments about integrity were made by some consumers but the approach seems now generally well accepted. Retailers are the ones fronting the consumers so their power in the supply chain has grown. They have increased their competence by hiring qualified “food people” and by keeping a keen eye on new products on the worldwide market. They have also managed to source these new products from Sweden or elsewhere to satisfy increasingly demanding consumers. Some producers have followed suit and collaborate with other producers mainly outside Sweden in order to be able to offer a wider range of products and different new packaging solutions.
Consumers nowadays appear to be more individualised than before, when they were easily classified into a few different groups. Purchasing power remains key and value for money is important to most consumers. The consumer claims to buy based on quality but money talks most of the time. Consequently more low-cost chains like Lidl (from Germany) and Netto (from Denmark) are growing. But interest in
good food is also growing as people visit restaurants more often, cooking books are being launched in multiples and food recipes can be found in every journal. The problem for most people is to conveniently cope with everyday food for the family, which is where industrial preparations come in handy. Hopefully, consumers will begin to put aside any guilt they feel about serving industrially prepared food. Transparency and trustworthy communication must be increased from food producers and retailers alike and this could help in giving busy parents peace of mind.
Most consumers do not understand the reasoning behind new technologies like GMO or irradiation. They do not like additives (E-numbers being approved ingredients and additives within the EU). A rational option for reducing additives would be to use GMO or irradiation, but this is a connection not made by most consumers or food producers. Instead when the additives debate started, food producers simply took the additives away, leaving the consumers wondering why they were used in the first place. So “processed food” remains under fire and innovative technologies face an uphill battle. In the meantime not much new
processing technology resulting in food innovations has been visible on the Swedish market. The retailers expect food producers to come up with real innovations but without more co-opetition (cooperate and then compete) between the two actors it is not very likely to happen.
New products, more or less innovative, are launched with the aim of fulfilling some of the actual demands for fresh, natural, ecological/organic, green, locally produced, safe food, preferably with health benefits, environmental benefits – and also convenience. Some are functional foods although the EU has a strict attitude towards what can be labelled “functional”.
Food with new bacterial strains is increasingly popular and the same goes for lactose free or gluten free products. The latter two product groups are right now growing at a higher rate than the diagnosed needs identified among the population. The dairy sector is growing the fastest with more fermented products, many including lactose free versions, as well as fat-reduced varieties of butter, margarine and cheese. However fat-reduced products are
regarded with suspicion by many consumers as they are not “natural”. An interesting product family based on oats, Oatly, is growing, based on a patented fermentation process of oats to make it quite neutral and tasty. It started out as a lactose free drink competing with milk and is now a healthy alternative for most people and available not only as a milk replacement but also as yoghurt and ice cream. Oatly answers to the trend for more green food. As can be expected, many of the products resulting from actual trends are partly driven by a wish/need for increased margins in the supply chain. The food producers and their suppliers need to stay innovative in order to maintain their margins.
The packaging industry for food applications in Sweden has traditionally been quite successful and less dependent on the home market. Take for instance Tetra Pak and its aseptic (ambient temperature distribution) system, which for years has grown successfully over the world. They recently launched the innovative “carton can” Tetra Recart. Other attempts of introducing aseptic and chilled system innovation are being made by Ecolean, using a material based on clay and plastic mainly. MicVac, a young Swedish company with another patented system approach, offers ready-to-serve meals being packed in a tray with a unique vent. This allows for gentle heat treatment of the package (and food) by microwaves
resulting in a high quality product. Other converters and packaging suppliers are working with mainly paper based solutions for different uses and claiming a better environmental profile.
Another rather active trend in Sweden is the attempt to by-pass the traditional retailers, i.e. shopping on line for home delivered food baskets, shop-in-shop as well as country/farm stores and markets with the actual suppliers/producers closer to the consumers. Most of the trends described above can be found in most western countries, as a result of increasing globalization and information available on the Internet. The solutions and answers to meeting the trends might differ from country to country based on the industry structure. What remains clear, is that consumers are always looking for more innovations, and producers and retailers will continue to learn from each other and provide innovation in one way or another. Märit Beckeman holds a Master in Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg and a PhD from Lunds Technical University. She has held leading positions within the international food and packaging industry (Nestle and Tetra Pak amongst others). Beckeman has served as a Director for Aarhus-Karlshamn AB since 2006.
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I N T E R V I E W
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I had to sing and my voice grew... from gold-coloured champagne to mature whisky By Birgitta Lauren • www.expectingfitness.com SP: Can you tell us about your current projects? VT: Yes, on June 2nd my new and first live album called LIVE will debut digitally and on June 6th the physical CD will be released to coincide with my concert at the “Metropolitan Room” in New York which will have a Swedish theme to celebrate Sweden’s National Day. I will, in addition to my own songs, perform my take on various Swedish songs, from artists like ABBA, Avicii and others. In late August my Classical Crossover album “Dream It” will be released in Asia, coinciding with my concert tour in Hong Kong and
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Singer, from opera to international crossover artist, animal activist and founder of Dina’s Ark dog rescue in Romania, mother and wife.
several other Asian cities. There is a large audience in Asia for classical music, they are curious about crossover music and love exotic blond swedes. I am very proud of this album and it’s going to be hectic so to prepare myself I have hired a trainer to get myself physically fit, so I can handle the workload. Then I will record a Christmas album to be released before Christmas. Both you and several others told me last year that my voice would lend itself well to Christmas songs so I decided to do this as well! When did you first start to sing? I sang before I spoke! I have always sung, but not seriously until I entered Adolf Fredrik’s School of Music in Stockholm at age 10. Life would be boring without music. When you sing with your whole being, your whole body, it becomes like a religion, more of a physical need. Not to perform or be famous, just a need to sing, no matter what or where.
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What inspires you to write new songs? When I am out walking in nature, which I do a lot, I have 3 dogs… being outside and in the nature around Stockholm, by my summer house in the countryside, in Central Park New York or when hiking up Runyon Canyon in Hollywood Hills. This is where and when I get my ideas. I cannot sit down and come up with songs. So I always bring a note pad and my cellphone that has an app where I can write down and record song ideas as they come to me, either as lyrics or melodies. Then I sit down and put together the puzzle of ideas until it come together. The notes in my notebook are really great for when I get stuck. Who decides on your music video themes? I do. The Dark Waltz is entirely my work and ideas. But I also get help from the director and it’s fun to bounce ideas with other creative people. I need to be in control, though, so in the end I make the final decision. I did the cover of my LIVE album. Please tell us how you first got started with your role in “Phantom of the Opera”. The role of Christine was my dream role since I was 12 and first saw the “Phantom” in London. I had the main lead in Ludwig the 2nd in Germany when they auditioned for Christine in Denmark. I could not get time off to go, so I sent in a video. They organized a different time for me to
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sort of like going from gold-coloured champagne to mature whisky! In a good way, my voice grew several sizes so I had to learn how to control this new instrument. But I had to resume singing. When I later had my son I knew better what to expect, exercised throughout that pregnancy and bounced back so much better.
audition. With my height and not being Danish, it was a long shot, but Andrew Lloyd Webber who controls all Phantom and Christine parts wanted me. I got a phone call the day before my 25th birthday – best ever birthday present. All the stars must have been aligned that day, they couldn’t find a Danish Christine – it was my turn. You put your singing career on hold to have a family, was that difficult? Well initially I had no clue what having a child would do to me. I knew nothing, I was a puppy lover. I thought babies just slept but with the changes in my body, in my voice, the enormous work caring for a child, my new love for my daughter and only wanting to spend time with her, I had to. The heavy load of opera singing became impossibledue to the added weight and loss of abdominal tone from pregnancy. After, my voice changed, it matured,
You and your husband lived in Transylvania for some time, where you founded a dog rescue. Yes, Romania is very beautiful and the food is great, but it was difficult to live in a place with such disregard for animals. I am a dog lover, and when I found a suitcase with five puppies, three dead, I took them to the vet. I found homes for the two live pups in Sweden, and started Dina’s Ark which is still running today without me, by volunteers and vets of whom I am so proud. We have rescued about 500 dogs. Not one has been euthanized. I hear rumors your angelic voice may partner with the male angelic voice of John Kluge sometime in the future. Yes, we met last year and though we are both very busy we are planning to do a project together soon, the sooner the better. Photo credits: Viktoria Tocca www.viktoriatocca.com
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Royal wedding 2015:
Stockholm glittered in the summer sun as Prince Carl Philip married his Sofia. The atmosphere was as warm as the summer weather outside when Prince Carl Philip wed Sofia Hellqvist in Stockholm’s Slottskyrkan on Saturday, 13 June. Despite the presence of many of the crowned heads of Europe the wedding had a personal and relatively informal feel, with the newly married couple making a joyful exit to the sounds of gospel music. Sofia, now styled her Royal Highness Princess Sofia of Sweden, Duchess of Värmland, wore an elegant silk, organza and lace gown by Swedish designer Ida Sjöstedt, with a bouquet of roses and myrtle – the myrtle from Sofiero Castle, in keeping with royal tradition. The streets of Stockholm were lined with well-wishers hoping to catch a glimpse of the couple, who led a cortège in an open horse-drawn carriage, before returning to the castle for a dinner and dancing to Avicii and Icona Pop.
Top right: H.R.H. Prince Carl Philip and H.R.H. Princess Sofia ride in the wedding cortège after their marriage ceremony. Photo © Charles Hammarsten Middle left: H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, and her husband H.R.H. Prince Daniel smile for the camera. Photo © Getty Images | Middle right: H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and H.M. Queen Silvia. Photo © AFP/Getty Images | Left: H.R.H. Princess Madeleine, her husband Christopher O’Neill and H.R.H. Princess Leonore. Photo © Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP | Above: Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia with family and guests. Photo © Mattias Edwall/Kungahuset.se
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Top left: H.R.H. Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and H.R.H. Princess Sofia leave their wedding ceremony at the Royal Chapel. Photo © Getty Images Top right: The camera catches a rare glimpse of the small tattoo on the back of Princess Sofia’s neck. Photo © Willi Schneider/ REX Shutterstock | Middle left: Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looking radiant. Photo © Fredrik Sandberg, TT/AP | Middle right: Princess Takamado of Japan. © Jonas Ekstromer, TT/AP | Bottom feft: Queen Margrethe of Denmark in a flowing red dress. Photo © Fredrik Sandberg, TT/AP | Bottom right: Queen Sonja of Norway in a bright yellow dress. Photo © NTB Scanpix
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