Sisu (candy) facts for kids
Sisu is a super popular Finnish candy! It's known for its strong, fresh taste. Today, a company called Leaf International makes these candies.
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The Story of Sisu Candy
Sisu candy first came out in 1928. A candy company in Turku, Finland, called Seres, created it. A chemist named Johan Ponkamo started working on the candy a year earlier. He wanted to make a candy like the Swedish Läkerol.
He found an old recipe for wine gum candies. These candies used something called gum arabic. It was tricky to mix gum arabic with liquorice to get the right texture. It took many tries to create Sisu's special flavor. The exact recipe is still a secret today!
Sisu was a huge hit right away. People loved its name and its unique taste. Soon after it launched, Sisu won a gold medal! This was at a big food fair in Liège, Belgium. You can still see a picture of this gold medal on the Sisu candy box.
What Does "Sisu" Mean?
No one knows exactly who came up with the name "Sisu." It was probably a team effort at the Seres factory. The word "Sisu" was very popular in the 1920s. It means something like inner strength, determination, and courage.
The look of the Sisu package and its logo were designed by Arnold Tilgmann. He was 25 years old at the time. The Sisu logo has looked the same since the 1920s. The word "Sisu" is written in an old style of letters called Fraktur. Sometimes, people who don't know these letters might think it says "Gifu."
How Sisu Was Advertised
In the 1930s, Sisu became a favorite in Finland without much advertising. People often suggested it for singers, speakers, and smokers. It was popular for fresh breath and to help with coughs. In the 1950s and 1960s, Sisu ads appeared in local newspapers. Sometimes, they were even in big magazines like Suomen Kuvalehti. The same pictures were used in ads for many years.
Sisu on TV and with Sports
A new way of advertising started in the mid-1970s. Sisu began to be shown on television! One famous ad had the slogan "In the beginning, there was a swamp, a hoe and Jussi." This ad was very popular and even aired in the 1980s.
In the late 1980s, Sisu ads became linked to ice hockey. The company that owned Sisu, Rettig Group, started this. When a new owner, Leaf, took over, they kept the ice hockey theme going. Sisu's ice hockey campaigns were big when Finland won the world championship in 1995. Sisu also released special ice hockey cards in Finland from 1993 to 1996.
Sisu and Adventures
For Sisu's 70th birthday in 1998, they featured the mountaineer Veikka Gustafsson in their ads. He was one of the first people to climb a very tall mountain in the Antarctic. This mountain was even named Mount Sisu!
Since 2002, Sisu advertising has also been connected to rock music festivals. This started when they launched a new candy called Sisu Horna. In 2007, Sisu even sponsored a power metal band called Sturm und Drang. This band was made up of young musicians from Vaasa in Finland.
Different Kinds of Sisu
In the 1970s, a Sisu candy sweetened with sorbitol came out. It was meant to be "sugarless." Later, a version with xylitol was also created. This was done with help from the University of Turku's dentistry department.
In 1994, Leaf made a new Sisu flavor called Salmiakki-Sisu. This quickly became Finland's best-selling salty liquorice candy! The original sugared Sisu stopped being made in 1998.
In the 2000s, many new Sisu flavors have appeared. Sisu Horna is one popular kind. It comes in small paper bags and has a different recipe. Another new flavor from 2008 is Sisu Sysi, which tastes like liquorice.
Who Makes Sisu Now?
The Seres factory, where Sisu was first made, moved locations in Turku over the years. The Seres company was owned by the Kaukopaasi and Ponkamo families for a long time. In the 1970s, it was sold to Rettig Group.
A new factory for Sisu opened in Aura, Finland in 1973. Sisu was made there until 2013. The owners of Sisu have changed several times since then. Rettig Group sold its candy business to Huhtamäki in 1992. So, Sisu became part of Leaf, which was owned by Huhtamäki. In 1999, a Dutch company called CSM owned Sisu.
Today, Leaf and Sisu are owned by big international investors, CVC Capital Partners and Nord Capital. The production of Sisu candies moved to Italy in 2013.
