Wasabröd is a
Swedish producer of
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
n style
crispbread
Crispbread ( sv, knäckebröd (lit. crack bread), ''hårt bröd'' (hard bread), ''hårdbröd'', ''spisbröd'' (stove bread), ''knäcke'', da, knækbrød, no, knekkebrød, fi, näkkileipä or näkkäri, et, näkileib, is, hrökkbrauð, fo, k ...
( sv, knäckebröd). The Wasabröd company has been in business since 1919, opening its first
bakery
A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers wh ...
in the city of
Skellefteå
Skellefteå (, locally ) is a city in Västerbotten County, Sweden. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 73,246 inhabitants in 2021.
The city is historically industrial, with mining being a large part of that industry, especiall ...
. Since 1983 it has been under foreign ownership, first by the
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internati ...
pharmaceutical corporation
Sandoz
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
(later merged with
Ciba Geigy to become
Novartis
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
), and from 1999 by the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
food producer
Barilla Alimentare S.p.A.
History
The first bakery in
Skellefteå
Skellefteå (, locally ) is a city in Västerbotten County, Sweden. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 73,246 inhabitants in 2021.
The city is historically industrial, with mining being a large part of that industry, especiall ...
, founded by
Karl Edvard Lundström Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...
, was supplemented by another, completely mechanized, one in
Filipstad
Filipstad is a locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019.
Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Duke Carl Philip (1601&n ...
in 1931, which has since become the main seat of the corporation. It later acquired several other Swedish bakeries. It started exporting bread in the 1940s, with the first foreign subsidiary founded in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establishe ...
in 1965 and the first foreign bakery built in
Celle
Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
in 1967. In the early 21st century Wasabröd sells about 80% of its production outside Sweden.
K. E. Lundström, the founder of the company, had run his own bakery in Skellefteå since 1915 (''Firma K. E. Lundström''), with the corporation founded in 1919, ''AB Skellefteå spisbrödsfabrik'', taking its original name from the hometown. The Filipstad subsidiary which developed into the main part of the company took the name ''AB Wasa spisbrödsfabrik'' in 1934, which was shortened to ''AB Wasabröd'' in 1964. The brand ''Wasa'' was originally that of one particular product, ''Vasaknäcke'', featuring an image of King
Gustavus Vasa. The company has used both a royal crown and the peculiar
heraldic charge
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an ''escutcheon'' (shield). That may be a geometric design (sometimes called an ''ordinary'') or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object, building, or ot ...
, the
garb
Garb may refer to:
* Clothing
* Garb, a wheat sheaf (agriculture)
A sheaf (/ʃiːf/) is a bunch of cereal-crop stems bound together after reaping, traditionally by sickle, later by scythe or, after its introduction in 1872, by a mechanical ...
( sv, vase), which gave name to the
Vasa dynasty
The House of Vasa or Wasa Georg Starbäck in ''Berättelser ur Sweriges Medeltid, Tredje Bandet'' pp 264, 275, 278, 291–296 & 321 ( sv, Vasaätten, pl, Wazowie, lt, Vazos) was an early modern royal house founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its memb ...
, in its marketing. (Using the letter ''W'' instead of ''V'' is an
archaism
In language, an archaism (from the grc, ἀρχαϊκός, ''archaïkós'', 'old-fashioned, antiquated', ultimately , ''archaîos'', 'from the beginning, ancient') is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a hi ...
in Swedish; it is not uncommon in marketing, but does not affect the pronunciation.)
Barilla's bakery in Filipstad employs 440 people and produces 33,000 tonnes of crispbread annually. In 2009-2014, the owner invested 150 million in the Filipstad factory to modernise the equipment.
Products
Wasabröd produces a wide variety of
crispbread
Crispbread ( sv, knäckebröd (lit. crack bread), ''hårt bröd'' (hard bread), ''hårdbröd'', ''spisbröd'' (stove bread), ''knäcke'', da, knækbrød, no, knekkebrød, fi, näkkileipä or näkkäri, et, näkileib, is, hrökkbrauð, fo, k ...
s. The original crisp bread is made of
rye
Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe ( Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is ...
, but their various products include
sesame
Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is c ...
,
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeolog ...
, and other
grains
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes ...
. Like
matzo
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' (leaven ...
, Wasa is noted for its long shelf life.
Royal warrant
The company has the status of a
Purveyor to the
Royal Court of Sweden
The Royal Court of Sweden ( sv, Kungliga Hovstaterna) is the official name for the organisation ( royal households) that supports the monarch, and the royal house. The incumbent monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf, is head of the Royal Court.
The Royal ...
.
See also
*
House of Vasa
The House of Vasa or Wasa Georg Starbäck in ''Berättelser ur Sweriges Medeltid, Tredje Bandet'' pp 264, 275, 278, 291–296 & 321 ( sv, Vasaätten, pl, Wazowie, lt, Vazos) was an early modern royal house founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its memb ...
*
List of Swedish companies
Sweden is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the third-largest country in the European Union by area. It is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisatio ...
References
External links
*
Wasa homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasabrod
Brand name crackers
Food and drink companies of Sweden
Purveyors to the Court of Sweden
Barilla (company)
1919 establishments in Sweden
Food and drink companies established in 1919
Swedish brands
Companies based in Västerbotten County