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Central Helsinki is getting a very Finnish kind of sweet shop this September, as Kouvolan Lakritsi, which is celebrating 120 years in business, opens a new flagship store at Keskuskatu 7.
For the uninitiated, laku is the affectionate Finnish shorthand for lakritsi, or liquorice. And in Finland, liquorice is not just another sweet. It is one of those flavours people grow up with, argue about, develop fierce brand loyalties around and happily eat in quantities that can bewilder visitors from abroad. Helsinki has long had shops devoted to chocolate, coffee and other treats, so frankly, a proper liquorice flagship feels overdue.
The opening takes place on Saturday 5 September 2026, and Kouvolan Lakritsi is marking the occasion by giving away a whopping 1,000 kilos of fresh liquorice. There is, however, one small catch: you need to bring your own container.
That could mean an old promotional bucket gathering dust in the cupboard, a soup pot, a measuring jug or, if you are feeling ambitious, something considerably larger. The liquorice will be handed out in one-kilo bags until the mountain of sweets is gone.
Kouvolan Lakritsi CEO Santeri Nisula is also having a little fun with a very Finnish retail tradition: for years, shops and supermarkets have drawn huge opening-day queues by giving away free plastic buckets.
‘Maybe this is finally the moment to use that bucket you once queued passionately for at some long-forgotten opening event,’ Nisula jokes. ‘If a hundred different containers and a thousand kilos of fresh liquorice turn up in the same place, it is hard to imagine the day going badly.’
Nisula promises this will not be just another sweet shop, but an experience-led flagship where visitors can sample special batches and even arrange private liquorice tastings.
‘As the world becomes more digital, we need more face-to-face encounters and tangible experiences alongside it,’ he says.
And we hope international visitors will be brave enough to venture inside too. Finnish liquorice is a much gentler gateway into the national sweet tooth than salmiakki, the famously salty ammonium-chloride liquorice that can be rather more challenging for first-timers. Now Helsinki just needs a dedicated salmiakki shop as well.
Kouvolan Lakritsi flagship store: Keskuskatu 7, Helsinki
