Grocery Retailer Sees Bright Future For Scandinavian Foods In U.K.

British retail grocery chain Waitrose says a market study it commissioned has found an increasing interest among Britons in Scandinavian foods. According to the company, Scandinavian foods such as oats and wholegrains, berries, vegetables, oil-rich herring and salmon, hard cheese, poultry and lean meat, could be “the hottest U.K. culinary trend of 2011,” thanks to the popularity of Scandinavian fiction (e.g., Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and the Wallender TV series. But Britons are also attracted to Scandinavian cuisine, Waitrose says, because of its simplicity and use of “pared-down, high quality ingredients.” Waitrose is acting on the study’s insights by store-testing testing Swedish foods such as Västerbottensost cheese, Leksandsbröd crisp bread, Swedish Kitchen Organic Meatballs and lingonberry jam over the next few months.