Fika
An Embodiment of Swedish Values
A Unique Cultural Practice
While the prospect of life without coffee is likely an unbearable thought for many of us, the consequences for the Scandinavian country of Sweden would be monumental. In the Swedish culture, coffee has long assumed a salient and unparalleled role as a historical beverage of great significance, and its influence remains just as prevalent today. A quick examination of Swedish workplace practices reveals the unique role of coffee culture: the majority of companies mandate not one but two midday coffee breaks referred to as fika (Kamann, 2016). While employer-provided coffee and accompanying pastries is a daily practice in professional settings, it is also customary in most every home, on weekdays and weekends, at almost any time during the day, inside or outside. The mere translation of “fika” to “coffee break” is a gross oversimplification, as the English language lacks a word that appropriately captures the nuances behind fika (Mowery, 2016). In addition to being a time for coffee and sweet pastries, the social component of fika is also extremely important. Whether fikaing with friends, family, or a significant other, fika provides an opportunity to catch up and check in with loved ones. More than anything, fika enables people to take a break from their days and to simply take a moment to slow down within all the chaos, which epitomizes Swedish cultural values and priorities.
Map showing Sweden. From https://images.app.goo.gl/cYMH6vsq9THjoUKu6
Sweden is a relatively small Scandinavian country. Geographically, it is only slightly larger than the state of California, however this northern European country is home to a far smaller population of just over 10 million people, which is approximately a third of the population of California (“Eurostat,” 2018). Even so, the Swedish population hugely surpasses both California and the United States at large in terms of one statistic: coffee consumption per capita. While Sweden came in at number 6 globally with 8.2 kg per person per year, the United States was ranked number 25 with 4.2 kg per person per year (Bernard, 2018). In terms of coffee consumed per person, Swedes partake in nearly double the amount of that of Americans. While the Scandinavian country itself may be fairly small, its populations propensity for coffee most certainly is not.
The Establishment of Fika: King Gustav III's Coffee Experiment
Though coffee first arrived in Sweden around 1674, consumption of it did not become more popular until the 18th century as the elite classes of society began partaking in the caffeinated beverage (“Coffee,” 2008). Once a substance receives a stamp of approval from the highest social classes, it does not take long for the rest of society to follow suit. However, coffee and tea consumption became far too rampant for the liking of the royal Swedish. One paranoid monarch in particular, King Gustav III, orchestrated the first official banning of coffee in 1756 (“The Bizarre History,” 2017). His reasoning stemmed from his fear that coffee caused negative health consequences, however, as with many banned substances, a black market for coffee emerged. Swedes are nothing if not a persistent group, especially when it comes to coffee, so they came up with the code word “fika” to symbolize their illegal coffee meet ups. The Swedes ingeniously came up with this simple yet meaningful and catchy word by switching the two syllables in the Swedish word for coffee, kaffe (“The Bizarre History,” 2017). Unfortunately, the perseverance of the Swedish public only further contributed to King Gustav’s fear of coffee. In addition to his belief of the harmful health consequences, Gustav began to fear that covert coffee meet ups would threaten the power of the monarchy.
Gustav was so adamant in his anti-coffee efforts that he attempted to use science to back up his unpopular beliefs. Using a set of twins that had been convicted of a crime and sentenced to death, the King enlisted the help of two doctors to run his experiment. Rather than facing death, Gustav allowed the twins to live only if they obliged to the condition that one of them drink three pots of tea a day and the other three pots of coffee. Gustav hoped to monitor the health of each individual and ultimately reveal the detrimental consequences of the beloved beverage. However, things did not go according to plan when both twins ended up outliving the doctors and King Gustav himself, who was assassinated in 1792. The tea-drinking brother ended up living until the age of 83, and in a slightly comical turn of events, the coffee-drinking twin ended up living the longest (“The Bizarre History,” 2017). The experiment quite obviously failed to support Gustav’s premonitions about coffee, however, this was only one of five failed attempts to ban both the importation and consumption of coffee between 1756 and 1817, (Martínez, 2018). Despite such efforts to curb consumption, not only did the demand for coffee survive but so did the tradition of fika. Unfortunately for Gustav, coffee continues to be a staple of the Swedish culture.
A Cross-Cultural Comparison: English Tea Breaks During the Industrial Revolution
The evolution of coffee from being a once-illegal beverage to a now mandated part of the workday is a striking one, and researchers have taken interest in the implications of fika in a professional setting. More specifically, interest in the possibility of fika serving as a means of boosting work place morale and productivity has been demonstrated. Studies have found that Swedish workers are among the least stressed in the world and that despite fika, shorter work days, and infrequent overtime hours, Swedes are no less productive than other countries (Faletto, 2018). In this way, it is possible to see how the Swedish model may be an exemplary one, proving how even in a workplace with more flexible and lenient practices that keep employees content, productivity can still be achieved.
Workers during the Industrial Revolution. From https://images.app.goo.gl/2qFMEuru3Jy58uq98
Fika is not the first instance of workplace beverage breaks. In his book, Sweetness and Power, anthropologist and historian Sidney Mintz completes an in-depth analysis of both the production and consumption of sugar. His work reveals a plethora of fascinating insights into the consequences and implications of sugar, and one of the most interesting to consider in comparison to fika is the role of tea breaks given to industrial workers in England. As sugar production ramped up and cost declined, sugar began to play an increasingly prominent role in the lives of everyone. In the context of the industrial revolution, a period dominated by efficient, profitable mass production, it does not come as a great shock that thousands of workers were exploited during this era. However, the increased availability of sugar in combination with human’s instinctive desire for sweetness presented a new opportunity to the people profiting off industrial workers abominable conditions.
The opportunity they saw involved giving their workers a tea break during the absurdly long workday. While this was, in theory, a kind practice to put in place, the motivation behind it was nowhere near as pure. The economic benefits that stem from the integration of a short tea break into the daily schedule of these workers far outweigh the cost of the beverages and the sacrificed 15 minutes of worktime. The “tea” given to the workers was primarily sugar, which gave workers a boost in energy, but more importantly, the mid workday tea break gave industrial workers the illusion of freedom. They were manipulated into believing that this break represented the autonomy and liberties they possessed within their place of work, when in reality, tea breaks actually served as a means of boosting their productivity and further abusing their lack of rights.
The comparison between fika and industrial revolution tea breaks demonstrates the extremely varying motivations behind and implications of rather similar practices. Despite each beverage break seeming similar on the surface, these practices resulted in blatantly different consequences for the people partaking in them. While one is a deeply-embedded and cherished tradition that was so integral within the nation’s culture that it became a part of the functioning of the workplace, the other was an intentional tactic utilized by those with power to even further exploit the people they were profiting off of. Even though these practices may appear similar from the outside, they are actually starkly different.
A Swedish Fika. From https://images.app.goo.gl/Qzk5gkPanfhKhak9A
The Greater Implications of Fika
Sweden in general is a country that tends to be warmly regarded. Whether it is their healthcare system, education system, or even IKEA, there are numerous aspects of the country that make it very appealing. The tendency to view Sweden in a very positive light is evident in global rankings, where the Reputation Institute found that as of 2018, Sweden was the most reputable country, meaning, “With almost universally excellent reputation scores, Sweden is seen as the #1 most ethical country with high transparency and low corruption, as well as the country with the most progressive social and economic policies” (“Sweden Earns Top Spot,” 2018, n.p.). In this way, it is possible to see the pedestal Sweden is placed on in terms of global perception.
While on the outside, fika may simply seem like nothing more than a sweet practice, the cultural implications of this coffee break are far greater. Every single value that fika promotes, from slowing down, to socializing, to taking a moment for oneself, embodies precisely what it is about the Swedish culture that enables the country to be so highly regarded and idealized. Whether the Swedish cultural values prompted the creation of fika or fika came to be a practice that exemplified them, the fact of the matter is that fika embodies all that is distinctly Swedish. While of course the coffee associated with fika is very important (Swedes would be offended to say anything otherwise), the practice is about so much more than just the beverage itself.
References
Bernard, Kristine. (2018, January 5). Top 10 Coffee Consuming Nations. Retrieved from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-10-coffee-consuming-nations.html .
“Coffee – rat poison or miracle medicine?” (2018). Uppsala University. Retrieved from http://www2.linnaeus.uu.se/online/pharm/kaffete.html .
Eurostat Swedish Population. (2018). Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/population-demography-migration-projections/statistics-illustrated .
Faletto, J. (2018, March 23). The Swedish Concept of Fika Can Make You More Productive. Retrieved from https://curiosity.com/topics/the-swedish-concept-of-fika-can-make-you-more-productive-curiosity/ .
Kamann, M. (2016, June 16). Fika – A Very Swedish Tradition – How to Fika Like a Swede. Retrieved from https://hejsweden.com/en/have-coffee-breaks-called-fika-swedish/ .
Mintz, S. (1985). Sweetness and Power. New York, NY: Viking Press.
Martínez, V. (2018, July 2). Why coffee was banned in Sweden five times. Retrieved from https://www.thelocal.se/20180702/why-coffee-was-banned-in-sweden-five-times .
Mowery, L. (2016, October 13). Swedish coffee culture: How to take a fika. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/food-and-wine/2016/10/13/sweden-coffee-fika-culture/91891898/ .
“The Bizarre History Behind Fika, Sweden’s Mandatory Coffee Break.” (2017, February 9). Retrieved from https://vinepair.com/articles/the-bizarre-history-behind-fika/ .
“Sweden Earns Top Spot as Most Reputable Country in the World.” (2018, June 21). Retrieved from https://www.reputationinstitute.com/about-ri/press-release/sweden-earns-top-spot-most-reputable-country-world
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