Rejected Aladdins

No, we're not talking about the literary Aladdin with the magic lamp. Neither about the recent movie, 'The Dictator' 

  • Forrest Gump’s mother said it: "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." But each year approximately 84 tons of pralines from Swedish chocolate boxes are being rejected.

  • We're talking about the box of chocolates that many Swedes receive this Christmas as a gift, also known as Aladdin. When you've eaten your last meatball, and it’s time to sit down to watch Kalle Anka (Donald Duck) on TV, it is also time for coffee and the obligatory chocolate box is produced as well. Soon enough though, only four pralines remain and every year it’s the same thing: The same four pralines are left, rejected, year after year. Says Henrik Helander, Production Director for pralines at Marabou (the company that makes Aladdin):
    “Cherries in liqueur is a classic symbol for this, and it stirs up a lot of feelings.” Marabou sells 4 million of the Aladdin boxes every year, 70% of the sales are made during November and December. In total, if three pralines, weighing 10 g each, are rejected from each box, that means 84 ton are rejected each Christmas.

  • The most popular box of chocolates in Sweden is no doubt Marabou’s “Aladdin,” but Swedes are upset that the favored "trillingnöt" (hazelnut) will be replaced with "hallonlakrits" (raspberry licorice) in time for the holidays.

  • “We believe that 70% of the pralines disappear very quickly and that three or four are staying behind,” Helander continues. Per Gyrberg, Associate Professor in Technology and Social Change at Linköping University says: “We buy candy in some shape for enjoyment and if we reject part of that, then it is all really about disrespect.” The people at Marabou have a hard time believing any of their pralines actually end up in the trash though. Says Helaner: “Our tactic when it comes to pralines is that when you and your family stand around an Aladdin box, it’s all about getting the kind of pralines you want, then some just tend to remain that’s all.”