For my mid-term break I found myself going against the pack. While everyone in my program was taking holiday in warm, tourist places like Madrid or Rome, I was visiting the absolutely freezing Sweden. Even though I was forced to wear multiple layers of jackets whenever I stepped out of my friend’s flat, I still got to enjoy Sweden for the beautiful country that it is. Down in Lund where my friend is studying, little pockets of cities exist amidst huge expanses of green fields. The sky just seems bigger in Sweden. 

Since I was there for an entire week I got to experience shopping at Lund’s local grocery store, ICA. First of all, it is important to note that I have been surrounded by small little grocery stores in London for the past few months. Walking through an Albertson’s sized grocery store was kind of disorienting. Of course there would be multiple brands of any item to choose from. There was literally an entire wall of Olive Oil. But I digress. 

ICA has this cute line of private label foods that are under the label “i heart eco.” After further research that involved Google Translate, I have discovered that these products are indeed organic. The line doesn’t just include food products, but also bed sheets and towels made from organic cotton. Of course they all feature the same type of clean design that draw me to them in the first place. 

I think I might have a weakness for the paintbrush style font that these pesto sauce jars have. This photo offers an example of the difference between organic and inorganic private label ICA products. Both are very clear about the products inside and the “i heart eco” jar even has a splash of pesto on its label. 

Okay, here’s where the Swedish get a little strange. They love things in tubes. These tubes seem to have different sauces and spreads for sandwiches and various other dishes. There are a few different tubes with seafood on them and even with close inspection it was unclear what exactly they were for. Nevertheless they are brightly colored and interesting. 

Applesauce in a tube bag. Seems a bit messy. My deduction was that you could use this as a filling to put in a pie or something. Bob has made an adorable casing for this applesauce and I just love the little apples printed all around.

Sweden is definitely a very progressive and clean place. The general social atmosphere is quite warm despite the cold weather. I definitely hope to visit again in the future!