Towering bins of candy and ten-meter-long aisles—why is Finland obsessed with pick-and-mix candy?

The kiosk floor creaked as I stood on tiptoe to see the pick-and-mix behind the glass. Maybe a couple of ten-penny gummy bears, if I have enough coins for them?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the clerk would bag the candy according to my instructions. Now we take the candy scoop ourselves and plunge it into supermarket pick-and-mix bins that can stretch for several meters. According to the Finnish retailing cooperative S Group, Finland’s longest candy aisle is at a Prisma hypermarket in Vaasa, measuring 14.4 meters.

The selection is huge: salty licorice, chocolate, fruity flavors, skulls, pacifiers, fish, rolls, sour, sweet, and chewy.

You’ll see pick-and-mix candy everywhere in Finland: in advent calendars, at movie theaters, even at weddings.

Finnish cities where pick-and-mix candy is purchased the most

“Pick-and-mix candy is a distinctive feature of Finnish food culture. Everyone recognizes pick-and-mix, and you can find it all around the country,” says Professor of Food Culture Taru Lindblom.

Pick-and-mix has become quite an everyday treat, since these candy bins are available in almost every store, she continues. Indeed, in other countries you might find pick-and-mix only in specialty candy shops, but here you can even get it at gas stations.

Lindblom points out that pick-and-mix’s cousins—pre-packed candy mix bags—are a bigger phenomenon in Finland than in many other places.

All Nordic countries love munching on pick-and-mix. Lindblom isn’t sure where pick-and-mix culture first started, but the trail leads back to Finland or Sweden. Naturally, our branding-savvy neighbor to the west has embraced pick-and-mix as its own. Even New York has discovered it, calling it Swedish candy.

About half of Finns buy pick-and-mix candy at least once a year, says pick-and-mix supplier Candyking’s product manager Elina Levonmaa.

“Pick-and-mix consumption has grown over the last decade. There was a dip during the pandemic, but after that it picked up again,” Levonmaa says.

It’s difficult to find precise information on how much pick-and-mix candy we eat, and overall candy-consumption data is quickly becoming outdated.

For nearly a decade, media reports have stated that Finns eat about 14 kilograms of candy per year. That equals a medium-sized bag of candy every week.

Statistics Finland’s Household Consumption Survey from 2016 suggests a more moderate figure: we eat 8.3 kilograms of chocolate, candy, and pastilles annually.

The Kauppalehti newspaper reported four years ago that people in Finland spend about 125 euros a year on candy. In 1990, that sum—converted from the currency of the time, Finnish marks, and adjusted for current prices—was 58 euros, so spending has doubled.

Bag sizes have also increased. The mixed candy bags of my childhood likely weighed around 120 grams, but now you can find half-kilo candy sacks. The empty sacks for pick-and-mix have also grown. Today’s bags can hold far more scoops than the little ones I remember as a kid.

Pick-and-mix is a great concept. You can get exactly what you want (salty licorice for me, please) and only as much as you like (not a lot). Pick-and-mix suits picky candy lovers like me, who want a bag curated to their own taste.

According to Lindblom, this individualization of modern society could explain pick-and-mix’s huge popularity.

“Back in the 1980s, Finland was more of a monoculture—everyone watched the same two TV channels and ate the same meals. These days, people want to express themselves more individually. That applies to pick-and-mix bins, where you can combine exactly what you like.”

But pick-and-mix’s appeal also has a distinctly Finnish side. After all, Finland is a nation that loves buffets.

“Finns live their lives at self-serve counters: buffets, salad bars, and school cafeterias. Maybe it carries over when we scoop up candy ourselves?”

Variety has its own charm, Lindblom points out.

“Even choosing pick-and-mix for someone in your own family can be tough because flavor preferences are so personal,” says Levonmaa.

She notes that fruity candies are most popular overall. Sour candies top the charts with younger people. Chocolate pick-and-mix is growing in popularity—although candy lovers often debate whether chocolate really belongs in a pick-and-mix bag. On average, people pick 8–10 familiar candies. All ages enjoy pick-and-mix, but it’s particularly popular among 18–35-year-olds.

Ways to eat candy are becoming increasingly varied, Lindblom says. There’s comfort eating, group snacking, private candy moments—candy also marks transitions, like the end of the workweek and the start of free time.

“But in Finland, we don’t necessarily need a specific reason or special occasion to eat candy. Sometimes, you just pick up a small bag almost without thinking—maybe absentminded snacking or a moment to savor.”

We’ve traveled far from the days when Finnish dentists promoted a single weekly day for eating candy.

Even though pick-and-mix is now quite common, it still carries a certain mystique, Lindblom says. There’s an exciting feeling when you hold an empty bag in front of row after row of colorful candy.

“It can feel a little bit decadent, hedonistic, and fun—like you could dive in scoop-first. There’s a playful, childlike delight to it.”

Remember mermaid candies? Some cherished pick-and-mix memories

“At our local kiosk, we’d buy pick-and-mix for one or two marks. My absolute favorite was the salty licorice mermaid candy that cost 30–50 pennies. One time I paid for a single mermaid candy and got two stuck together. I was thrilled.” Outi

“Once, both of us had five marks, and we laughed until we nearly burst when we went to buy as much pick-and-mix as possible from a kiosk. Five marks got you a giant bag!” Iina

“I used to buy mermaid candies, tutti frutti, and wrapped salty licorice—all for one mark each. I even started piano lessons so I could take a taxi into town and grab pick-and-mix. I can still remember the smell.” Hannele

“At the gas station, you could buy salty licorice candies that tasted a bit like cigarettes because people smoked inside. It didn’t bother me. Five marks got you a big bag, and ten was heaven. I still connect that pick-and-mix smell with scorching summer days.” Amanda

Source: A reader survey by Kotivinkki at meilläkotona.fi. Candy statistics sources: SOK, Kesko, Cloetta