Over a decade ago, on September 23rd, 2013, to be exact, I did a post on lingonberries, in jam or spread form. At that point in my blog history, I concentrated mainly on the food or drink type itself, and not on the brand or company that made the product. Therefore, I don't think I tried the lingonberry jam from the Felix brand, but because I didn't mention it, I'm not 100% sure of this. At any rate, in this post I won't discuss lingonberries as a plant and food, and will mainly cover the brand and companies behind it. So either way, it will be new information.
The history of the Felix brand goes back to the 1930's. A man named Herbert Felix arrived in Sweden, from what's now the Czech Republic. Some sources say he originally came here in 1930, while others list it as being 1938 or 1939. Reportedly, Herbert was fleeing the Nazis, indicating that he was probably a member of a group that the Nazis persecuted, such as the Jews, Romani, the LBGT community, Jehovah's Witnesses, trade unionists, etc. Anyway, before this Herbert had worked for a pickling business back home, in what was probably a family business, since it had "Felix" in its name. So, when the Swedish AB P. Hakansson company needed help with their own pickling/vinegar company, Herbert was a natural choice to hire. Together they formed the Felix company. Initially the firm marketed pickled cucumbers, but it gradually expanded its product list. By the 1950's Felix was also selling meat soups, porridge, pastas, and its two signature products, meatballs and ketchup. As the decades passed, Felix was sold to several other companies in turn--AB Cardo, Cavenham Foods, and Beijerinvest among them. In 1995 it was acquired by the Norwegian company Orkla, which is the current owner. Orkla, in turn, has an ever longer history. The ancestor of the business was a pyrite mining company, that dated all the way back to 1654. In 1904 Orkla Grube-Aktiebolag was founded by a man named Christian Thams. At first this firm was also involved in mining and smelting. But over the years they changed their focus, buying up various newspapers and forming a media empire, and then by acquiring various food and beverage brands around the turn of the 21st century and beyond. Currently Orkla owns about 30 brands, and makes over 500 food/beverage products. Aside from Felix, some other brands it owns include Abba (yes, the same as the band), Bob, Fun Light, Grandiosi, Jokk, King Gustaf. Pauluns, and Svennes. I labeled this post as being both Swedish and Norwegian since the parent Orkla company is Norwegian, but the jam itself is designated as being a "delicacy of Sweden," and was processed in one of Orkla's Swedish factories.
Felix lingonberry jam: This looked like canned cranberry sauce. It had a deep red color, and a gel-like texture, or also like canned cranberry sauce. It also tasted a lot like cranberry sauce. It was tart, and good. I preferred it on some seeded crackers rather than plain, as this mix added to the flavors. Overall it was a fine jam/spread. I would definitely recommend this, and would have it again. If you enjoy cranberry sauce, I think there's a good chance that you will also like this.