ROYAL VISIT FOR FRIA TO CELEBRATE THE UK'S GROWING APPETITE FOR NORDIC NOSH

Anders Nilback, Fria (left), Prince Daniel of Sweden (right)

Photo: Monika Agorelius

London, 21^st February 2011: With Scandinavian food tipped as the hottest UK culinary trend of 2011, His Royal Highness Prince Daniel of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, dropped by John Lewis Foodhalls from Waitrose on London's Oxford Street last Thursday 17^th February, to sample products from FRIA, the award-winning gluten-free bakery based in Sweden and the Scandinavian market leader in gluten-free bakery products. FRIA has arrived in the UK as part of a major Swedish food trial in collaboration with the Swedish Trade Council and Waitrose in response to the UK’s growing appetite for Scandinavian food.

During his visit, Prince Daniel was joined by Ulf Berg, Managing Director of the Swedish Trade Council and a number of  key  executives from the trade council, the Swedish Embassy and the Swedish Chambers of Commerce.  His Royal Highness enjoyed the FRIA productions and told the FRIA team that he has a friend who is gluten intolerant and how he often finds it difficult to eat out in restaurants as there is often a poor choice for for people who suffer from food allergies the autoimmune disorder, Coeliac disease and he hopes more restaurants will wake up to the increasing demand for gluten-free foods.

Anders Nilback, Marketing Director and Head of International Sales, says: "Fria's launch in the UK has been a tremendous success. We are very pleased that Prince Daniel chose to visit us and we thank him for his positive feedback about our breads. Our sampling days were a great success  and the response and subsequent feedback has been really positive.  We've been contacted by gluten intolerant people from all over the UK asking when they'll be available in their local stores."

Nilback hopes Scandinavian food like FRIA will become a future shopping basket staple. The UK's discovery of Nordic nosh follows the smash-hit success of Scandinavian fiction such as Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the Wallander television series. Scandinavian food is now poised to make a splash in Britain, according to an independent trends report called Food Watching commissioned by Waitrose. The simplicity of light Nordic cuisine together with its use of pared-down, high quality ingredients are its main attractions, the report says. London’s restaurant scene is also reflecting this latest food trend, with a number of popular Nordic restaurants and cafés dotted around the capital.

Swedish Trade Council Project Manager Gustaf Bergström said in a press statement last month: “Swedish food is about natural ingredients, high quality and innovation, hence it fits well into the Waitrose offering. It is the first time such a trial sale of Swedish food has been conducted in the UK and we think the timing is just right since we can see a large and growing interest around Swedish and Scandinavian food.”

Since its arrival in the UK in January 2011, FRIA has hosted a total of four highly successful tasting days and hundreds of members of  Coeliac UK, the charity for people with Coeliac disease attended.

FRIA offers a new, different and much welcome taste and addition to the existing gluten-free breads available in the UK.  The products are freshly baked and then frozen, which keeps the breads fresh for longer and they can be defrosted to make sandwiches or popped straight in the toaster. The products are comparatively low in fat and high in fibre and the taste exceeds that of most gluten-free breads.