In 2013, the Vienna-based confectioners Niemetz, producers of the Schwedenbombe since 1926, were in danger of going out of business. The firm had been reporting financial troubles since the mid-1990s, but by 2013, the proverbial, it seems, had finally hit the fan. The reaction from the Austrian public to the news that their beloved Schwedenbombe may finally be no more was a social media campaign to save it. Its Facebook page attracting 10,000 likes in five days, in the end gaining 40,000 supporters. A surge in sales and renewed interest in the Schwedenbombe followed. In June of that year, Niemetz was taken over by the Swiss firm Heidi Chocolat, owned by the Meinl family, and its future secured. Indeed, in the years since Heidi bought out Niemetz, its subsidiary's profits have more than tripled.
A Schwedenbombe bears much in common with a Scottish Tunnock's teacake, consisting of four component parts: a waffle base; an airy, foamy filling akin to Italian meringue; a chocolate glaze; and a coating of desiccated coconut. Interestingly, though a self-stable product, a package of Schwedenbomben only has a shelf life of about three weeks. Each Schwedenbombe is only 70 calories, though since they come in packs of six, 20, or 40, be careful. And just how much do Austrians love Schwedenbomben? Just before Christmas, in the dead of night, 33 palettes of the stuff were stolen from the back of a lorry in Lower Austria. The criminals, identities still unknown, made off with 160,000 Schwedenbomben. A sticky situation, one might say.
