Bergene (A. Bergene Chokoladefabrik) was a producer of chocolate and other

sweets Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called '' sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. The factory was established by colonial trader

Anders Bergene Anders Edvard Olsen Bergene (16 June 1855 – 18 August 1920) was a Norwegian businessperson. He founded the chocolate and confectionery company Bergene. Bergene was born at the parish of Hedrum in Vestfold, Norway. He was the son of Ole Kristian ...

in 1906, when he took over the premises in ''Københavngata'' after Olaf Larsens Chokoladefabrik (later

ASOLA Asola may refer to the following : Places and jurisdictions * Asola, Lombardy, in the province of Mantua, northwestern Italy ** its collegiate cathedral Sant'Andrea was the 'see' of a single-parish Abbey nullius of Asola (1509-1818) * Asola (De ...

) moved out, before later being established in ''Akersbakken''.

First generation: Anders Bergene

When it opened on Rodeløkka in 1906, Bergene had 40 employees, but chocolate production was a problem due to

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s and other equipment often breaking down and needing repairs. Sweets were easier to prepare and saved their sales. Together with his German-speaking manager, Bergene went to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and poached two professionals from the famous Sarotti chocolate factory. Bergene opened a shop in

Karl Johans gate Karl Johans gate is the main street of the city of Oslo, Norway. The street was named in honor of King Charles III John, who was also King of Sweden as Charles XIV John. Karl Johans gate is a composite of several older streets that used to be s ...

18. He had little faith in advertising. He believed that a good product would succeed because people would talk about it. One of the two German professionals became head of the Peuker factory, while Haase took care of filled confectionery. However, sweets producer Pedersen was Norwegian. The company used the slogan: "Altid no' godt fra Bergene" for many years, and at its peak produced more than 500 different products.

Spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...

and

pea soup Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made typically from dried peas, such as the split pea. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is most often greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of pea ...

were produced in blocks. In 1915, Gullbrød was launched with 3%

bitter almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

for its characteristic

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...

flavour, in 1917, Mokkabønner, and in 1920 Vaniljepraliner, while in 1961 Kremtopper was launched. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a ship carrying

cacao beans Cacao is the seed from which cocoa and chocolate are made, from Spanish cacao, an adaptation of Nahuatl cacaua, the root form of cacahuatl ("bean of the cocoa-tree"). It may also refer to: Plants *''Theobroma cacao'', a tropical evergreen tree ** ...

from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

ed. Without the raw materials for the factory, production ceased and workers were

laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...

Second generation: Alf Bergene

In 1919, Anders Bergene handed over the company to his son Alf, who replaced horses and carts with electric vans. The stables and wagon sheds became production sites. On a group trip to Germany in 1925, Alf Bergene bought the recipe for the

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...

Smørbukk ''Smørbukk'' is a Norwegian comic strip. It was started in 1938 by text writer Andreas Haavoll and illustrator Jens R. Nilssen. The first Smørbukk story was based on the fairytale Buttercup collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe. The strip appears in ...

and brought it into production in 1935. The working conditions were miserable, with low wages, a 12-hour working day, Sundays until 2, and mandatory

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...

. Holidays, lunch breaks, and uniforms did not exist. The white work clothes were expected to be taken home on Sundays and washed themselves ready for Monday. Office workers ranked well above factory floor workers. One office worker asked out a factory girl, and was called in to see a manager for doing so. He was advised that if he did it again, his parents would be notified, or he would be sacked. An automatic control system was in place to check workers at the end of the day. If the light was white, workers could go through. If the light was red, bags and coats were searched for stolen goods. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, raw materials were scarce again. Bergene employed farmers in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

to grow

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...

, which was used for "emergency confectionery", and the dessert jelly Aroma was made from

alginate Alginic acid, also called algin, is a naturally occurring, edible polysaccharide found in brown algae. It is hydrophilic and forms a viscous gum when hydrated. With metals such as sodium and calcium, its salts are known as alginates. Its colou ...

, and had to be eaten soon after production, or it would melt into a puddle. Bergenes production of chocolate went to the

Frontkjemper During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited significant numbers of non-Germans, both as volunteers and conscripts. In total some 500,000 non-Germans and ethnic Germans from outside Germany, mostly from German-occupied Europe, were recruited betw ...

office.

Third generation: Anders and Gunnar Bergene

In 1955, the brothers Anders and Gunnar Bergene took over. They wanted to build a

sky scraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

between Københavngata and ''Fagerheimgata''. This collided with

Oslo Municipality Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

's building regulations, which since the 1920s had planned a green corridor from

Grefsenåsen Grefsenåsen is a hill in Lillomarka in Oslo, Norway. The height is 377 meter. The view from the top is magnificent, and the hill has for a long time been a popular resort for day-trippers living in Oslo. A restaurant was built on the top in 1927, ...

down through Torshovdalen, Sofienbergparken and ''Københavngata'' to

Akerselva Akerselva or Akerselven ( en, Aker River) is a river which flows through Oslo. It starts at Maridalsvannet in Oslomarka, and traverses the boroughs of Nordre Aker, Sagene, Grünerløkka, central Oslo and Grønland, whereby it finally ends at P ...

. The new building would be in the middle of this corridor, but the brothers gave the municipality an ultimatum: Allow the highrise, or production would be moved to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. The municipality gave in to save jobs, and the new building was built in 1967.Folmer: ''Gutten fra sjokoladefabrikken'' (s. 214) In the 1970s, the company also became established in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, under the name Bergene Dragé. In 1980, the firm joined with

Nidar Nidar is a Norwegian producer and distributor of confectionery. Nidar's candy factory is located in Trondheim, Norway. It is part of the Orkla Group. The company is one of the leading distributor of sweets to the Norwegian marketplace, sellin ...

in Trondheim, and for some years was known as Nidar-Bergene. In 1987, the company was bought by

Nora Industrier Nora Industrier was a Norwegian company, most of its history involved in manufacturing of soft drinks and foodstuffs. It traced its history back to the brewery St. Halvard Bryggeri, established in Pilestredet in 1877. It originally brewed beer onl ...

(part of

Orkla ASA Orkla ASA is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions and financial investment sectors. Orkla ASA is listed on the Osl ...

), and Nidar became the company name.Industrimuseum om Bergene A/S
/ref> In 1990, all production moved to Trondheim, and the nameplate on the factory building in Oslo is all that remains.

References

{{Authority control Chocolate industry Companies of Norway Defunct companies of Norway Companies based in Oslo Companies established in 1906 Companies disestablished in 1990 1906 in Norway