On 07.07.07 (an auspicious day!) the first Lakrids by Johan Bülow shop opened in Svaneke. Svaneke is a very small town on the eastern coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, in Denmark. It lies mainly in Svaneke parish and partly in Ibsker parish and holds the distinction of being Denmark's easternmost and, until few years ago, smallest chartered town with a population of just of 1000 people.

Johan's idea was to open a liquorice shop and cook the liquorice IN the shop, so that the lovely smell would waft out and patrons couls smell it in a radius of 100 meters. Well ... it worked. He started with the basics (#1 - sweet, #2 - salty, #3 - red, and #4 - hot), but has expanded his product offering since then. In 2009, Johan started covering his liquorice in chocolate - and a whole new confection was born.  Our importer affectionally calls his A,B,C and D products "the gateway products" - because this real licorice candy is oh so addictive.

And then came the white chocolate with candy coatings - they are like the most amazing biteful of white chocolate, flavor-covered, liqorice-filled M&M's you will ever taste. The Seabuck Thorn is beyond descriptions. Even if you don't THINK you like licorice.

I like to think of ChefShop as the curator for my taste buds! I eagerly look forward to my newsletter to learn about your next mouth watering discovery. Thank you!