January is normally a slow month for lolly sales. The holiday rush has come and gone. People sweep their pantries of excess sugar, resolving to have a healthy new year.
But for the handful of US businesses selling Swedish candy, the first month of 2024 was anything but quiet. Leo Schaltz, co-founder of BonBon, a chain of stores in New York City that sells colourful gummies, liquorice and chocolates imported from Scandinavia, couldn’t believe his eyes in mid-January when his phone told him 1,000 online orders were waiting to be fulfilled – way up from the usual handful.
