To Örebro University

Fika has appeared as a contender for the third Swedish word (in addition to ombudsman and smorgasbord) that has been introduced into the English language. We meet to fika in many different social contexts such as in the office morning-break, in a casually arranged business meeting, at homes as a tradition with home-baked pastries, and in cafes when friends meet and catch up. Fika as a cultural phenomenon is used extensively in destination marketing in Sweden and can be regarded as a food (or culinary) tourism experience. We also experience fika as one of the means to market Sweden, and some recent product launches try to build on fika as a value offering. This paper aims to conceptualise the meaning of fika and how it as a complex, cultural phenomenon can be marketed and thereby how a cultural tradition may enhance value created by firms in Sweden to attract customers locally as well as to reach out to other countries. The paper thereby connects fika as a practice and sensory taste with the destination-carrying values of fika for Sweden and firms, and how such values can be used in the marketing of products.

This paper is the first output from a project focusing on fika as a practice, destination marketing’s use of fika and how companies use fika to market the value of their products. This research lays a basis for the understanding of how values and tastes are created in relation to the Swedish fika culture. The social practice of fika will help to grasp the product/service combinations’ links to social interaction and what role the combinations play, how they shift both in terms of content and cultural values related to various types of interactions and contexts. This will serve as input to improve destination branding activities as well as fika services of tourism companies and organisations where the local and national values of fika are ingrained. Accordingly, the research result will result in scientific knowledge that used by tourism operators and destination organisations in Sweden can lead to an improved destination image of Swedish destinations as well as more successful tourism companies.