Swedish bread tradition with world status
Maybe you like to enjoy Wasa crispbreads with your breakfast. If not, there's a good chance that you'll have a couple for lunch, or for a snack at work. The majority of all the crispbread we eat comes from the bakery in Filipstad or its German sister factory in Celle, near Hanover.
TEXT: KATARINA AVERÅS PHOTO: ØYVIND LUND
Wasa has been part of the major Italian group Barilla since 1999.
"We're adopting one another's eating habits," says Ulf Elmér, manager warehouse & support for Barilla Sverige AB. "Barilla are good at teaching us to eat more pasta here in Northern Europe. At the same time, sales of Wasa crispbread are on the increase in Italy, the Netherlands and France."
The fact that there's a crispbread bakery in Filipstad at all is all down to baker Karl Edvard Lundström. He founded Skellefteå Spisbrödsfabrik in 1919. Similar bakeries appeared all over Sweden at a time when households were starting to tire of having to do a huge bake every year.
In the early 1930s, he turned his plans into reality at a new and fully mechanised crispbread factory and bought Filipstads Bageri.
"The first bread baked on the conveyor belt principle was called Husmansbröd."
Husmansbröd is a classic that lives on even today. At the same time, the range of crispbreads available has gradually grown. Wasa Rågi, Sport, Delikatess and Frukost. Falu Rågrut, Gammelgården and Solruta.
Crispbread is doing well in the face of competition. Baking takes place round the clock, and half a million packs leave Filipstad every day. The company employs 450 people.
Wasabröd has made gradual investments in order to meet market demands. The Barilla family has also opted to invest for the future. The company invested a total of SEK 100 million in the factory last year.
Why not visit the crispbread factory in Filipstad for yourself? There's a museum and a shop here. The history of Wasabröd is exciting.
