Bjørn Holmsen (born 1948) is a Norwegian entrepreneur in the

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...

business. His entrepreneur career started in 1989 with the company Nøttolf. The first factory was situated in an

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 ...

basement of 6 square metres. The production was split between nuts sent to kiosks and restaurants in bulk, and special nuts sold in small bag packages. The latter division was sold to the

Orkla Group 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 Os ...

in 1995, in order to strengthen the snack brand KiMs. In addition to the sales fee of , Holmsen penned a

royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...

deal for future sales by the Nøttolf brand, but the sale declined somewhat. He was also denied the option of starting a competitor company within packaged nuts between 1995 and 2000. However, in the late 1990s he started a new company

Den Lille Nøttefabrikken Den Lille Nøttefabrikken is a Norwegian nut and dried fruit company. It was established in the late 1990s by Bjørn Holmsen with its production facility at Hauketo. Holmsen had formerly founded, and sold, the company Nøttolf. Den Lille Nøtte ...

. In 1999 the company moved into a 3,000 square metre factory at Bjørnerud near

Hauketo Hauketo is a neighborhood in the borough of Søndre Nordstrand in Oslo, Norway. It is mainly a residential area with detached housing as well as larger blocks. It is served by the Østfold Line The Østfold Line ( no, Østfoldbanen) is a rail ...

. It was soon sued by the Orkla-controlled company Sætre (distributor of KiMs), since Den Lille Nøttefabrikken delivered nuts to Hakon Gruppen which were packaged by Private Label Company en route, displacing Sætre as a vendor. Den Lille Nøttefabrikken became a success, and the brand was bought by

Brynild Gruppen Brynild Gruppen AS is one of the larger Norwegian family-owned and operated confectionery companies. Its products include chocolate, confections, hard candy, sweets, nuts and dried fruits. History The company's history dates from 1895 and is bas ...

in 2003. This time, Holmsen's quarantine time in the nut business was set to three years. In 2006, the same year as Brynild Gruppen moved the production of Den Lille Nøttefabrikken nuts from Bjørnerud to

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

, Holmsen moved in at Bjørnerud and launched a new company Nøttekongen. Nøttekongen immediately started competing with Den Lille Nøttefabrikken in the packaged nuts segment. Holmsen directed his efforts towards low prices and "super-rational production". His brand was taken on board mainly by the chains ICA Supermarked,

ICA Maxi ICA Gruppen AB (publ) (; "ICA Group"; from ''Inköpscentralernas aktiebolag'', ) (formerly Hakon Invest AB) is a Swedish retailer franchise with a focus on food and health. The group also owns a bank, real estate division and a pharmacy chain. T ...

and REMA 1000. Holmsen lives in Oslo and has a fortune of about .Tax lists of Norway, 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmsen, Bjoern 1948 births Living people Norwegian company founders Businesspeople from Oslo