Kvikk Lunsj

Lore & Background

Kvikk Lunsj was introduced by Freia in 1937. Production was halted between 1941 and 1949 due to sugar shortages and lack of quality flour during and after the Second World War. The chocolate consists of four rectangular wafers covered in milk chocolate, with thinner layers of filler made from ground-up discarded wafers and bars mixed with chocolate, placed between wafers to break the chocolate into pieces more easily. The first chocolates were covered in dark chocolate, which performed poorly in the market, and the product was almost entirely removed until it was reintroduced with milk chocolate.

Reader's Guide

Kvikk Lunsj holds a significant place in Norwegian culture as a traditional hiking chocolate, especially associated with skiing trips and Easter vacations. The average Norwegian eats about nine bars a year, four of them over Easter. Around fifty million bars are made annually, with 400–500 tonnes sold at Easter. The bar's packaging has seen notable changes: the foil wrapper was replaced with airtight packaging in 2005, and in the 1960s, Freia began printing the Fjellvettreglene (The Mountain Code) on the back. The bar is owned by Mondelez International and sold in Norway and Sweden. Its similarity to Kit Kat has been noted; Kit Kat was introduced in English markets in 1935 and later became subject to a trademark dispute over its four-fingered wafer shape, which was ruled inadmissible by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2018.

Did You Know?

• Kvikk Lunsj production was halted from 1941 to 1949 due to sugar shortage and lack of quality flour.
• The first Kvikk Lunsj bars were covered in dark chocolate, which performed poorly in the market.
• In the 1960s, Freia began printing the Fjellvettreglene (The Mountain Code) on the back of the packaging.
• The Norwegian dance group Quick Style have said the bar inspired the name of their group.