Welcome to Candy Class: Why I Fell in Love with Swedish Candy (And Why I Think You Will Too)
, by Nichole Patterson, 3 min reading time
Welcome to Candy Class! I'm kicking off a new series digging into everything I love about Swedish candy — from the lördagsgodis tradition behind it, to why real sugar and simple ingredients matter, to all the fun facts I can't stop sharing. Pull up a stool, class is in session.
The first lesson in a series about the candy I can't stop talking about
If you've ever walked into Nikki's Candy and caught me mid-sentence gushing about lösgodis, you already know: I really, really love this candy. Not in a "cute little hobby" way. In a "I built an entire shop around it" way.
So I'm starting something new here on the blog — Candy Class. It's exactly what it sounds like: a place where I get to slow down and actually teach you about the candy we sell. Where it comes from, why it's made the way it's made, what makes Swedish and European candy so different from what most of us grew up with in the States, and all the small, weird, wonderful facts I've picked up along the way. Think of it as sitting on a stool at the counter while I hand you samples and just... talk.
Where This Love Started
In Sweden, Saturday isn't just a day off — it's lördagsgodis, literally "Saturday candy." It's a whole tradition built around one simple idea: candy is a joy you look forward to, not something you sneak. Families walk to the shop together, fill their own bags from bins of lösgodis (loose candy), and treat the whole thing like a little weekly celebration.
That tradition is the heart of Nikki's Candy. When I opened the first Swedish and European bulk candy shop in Nevada, I wasn't just importing candy — I was importing a whole way of thinking about sweets. Slower. More intentional. More joyful.
Real Candy, Made Differently
Here's something I talk about constantly, and it's a big reason Candy Class exists: the candy we carry is made differently than most mass-market American candy.
Our candy is made with real sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup. It uses natural colorants instead of a wall of artificial dyes. No GMOs. Simpler ingredient lists, the kind where you can actually pronounce everything and picture where it came from.
I want to be honest with you here, because I think honesty is part of what makes this community trustworthy: I'm not a nutritionist, and I'm not going to stand up here and tell you candy is a health food — it's candy, it's meant to be a treat. What I can tell you is that simpler ingredients and real sugar matter to a lot of us, whether that's about taste, how we feel about what we're eating, or just wanting fewer things in our candy we can't identify. That's part of what I love sharing — the "why" behind the ingredients, not just the "what."
From Personal Obsession to Shared Community
For a long time, this love was just... mine. Something I researched late at night, something I geeked out about with my daughter Vivian while we built the shop together. But candy this good, this steeped in tradition, shouldn't stay a solo obsession. It should be something we explore together.
That's what Candy Class is for. Every post is going to dig into something specific — the story behind salty licorice (yes, we're going there, and yes, people either love it or are shocked by it), how lösgodis bins actually work, what makes a marshmallow candy different from a fruit chew, which of our candies are naturally vegan or gluten-free, and the little cultural traditions tucked inside every bag.
My hope is simple: that this becomes a place where real candy lovers gather. Not just to shop, but to learn, to ask questions, to trade favorites, and to fall a little bit in love with Swedish candy culture the way I did.
So — welcome to Candy Class. Pull up a stool. Class is officially in session. 🍬