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this Copenhagen factory makes 330 pounds
of licorice per hour licorice is candy
made from the licorice root it's a
popular treat in Scandinavian countries
known for its salty taste and deep black
color over ten years ago Johan polo made
it his mission to make the world fall in
love with licorice and today he shifts
his product worldwide let's go find out
how he gets licorice from the factory in
Copenhagen to each of his 1,500 shops
around the world
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it takes between 8 and 24 hours to make
a batch of licorice from lakritz
molasses is added to the licorice it's
pressure cooked until the air is
squeezed out and cools on a conveyor
belt in long strands before being
snipped into small pieces chocolate is
dripped on the surface for eight hours
and each licorice core is covered in up
to 30 thin layers of chocolate then
fruit powders licorice powders or salt
are added this labor of love started
with yo.hannes passion for licorice as a
child I definitely grew up loving
licorice we ate quite a lot but when it
came to his business he was interested
in creating a gourmet version of the
popular candy people in the Scandinavian
countries in Germany they eat quite a
lot of licorice but they were used to
just buying it in a supermarket from a
large-scale Factory and I just realized
there must be a gourmet market for the
crucial like this and in Danish but what
makes it gourmet it comes down to where
lakritz gets ingredients they source
molasses from South America local oil
from the island of Bornholm and their
most popular ingredient the licorice
root is shipped from the Middle East one
of their best selling products is
chocolate-covered licorice including
passionfruit caramel and coffee flavors
but it's not just Danes that love
licorice now this is the first time in
the company's 11-year history that over
50% of turnover is coming from exports
to other countries
Johann opened his first shop on the
small island of Bornholm in Denmark his
creations are now sold in 1,500 shops in
six different countries including
Germany and Dubai before moving into a
new market yo.hannes team travels to
each place to learn about the people and
the flavours of the culture then he
creates products based on what he learns
that's a way of growing in new markets
actually we created a specific product
for what to buy and then we added the
flavour of Bulgarian rose leaves to it
in 2007 the company took in 1 million
Danish kroner or 156 thousand US dollars
that revenue has increased 200 times
over 11 years now a 31 million u.s.
dollars this past year
11 years ago when someone told me that I
was dreaming just creating a gourmet
licorice almost everyone was laughing of
it and I think they are laughing again
when I'm trying to teach the world to
love licorice let's see and I think we
can make it to be honest
you
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