Svedka is a mid-priced brand of

vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

produced in the United States with American corn. In the past, it was imported into US as 96% strength alcohol from Sweden and diluted and bottled in the US. At a later time, Svedka moved the whole production process to the US without any announcement. It was owned by

Constellation Brands Constellation Brands, Inc. is an American producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits. A ''Fortune'' 500 company, Constellation is the largest beer import company in the US, measured by sales, and has the third-largest market share (7.4 pe ...

until December 2024, when it was sold to

Sazerac Company Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by William ...

. The product name is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the words ''Sverige'' or ''svensk'' ("Sweden" and "Swedish" respectively in the Swedish language) and "vodka". The spirit is unaged 40% alcohol (80

proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a co ...

). Svedka vodka originates from a small brewery in

Lidköping Lidköping () is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2021. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidkö ...

, Sweden. For many Swedes it is unknown though. Svedka was acquired by

in March 2007 for

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

384 million. They made some "spooky internet advertisements" for

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

in 2017. This led to many customers feeling uneasy and was ultimately an unsuccessful marketing campaign. Svedka Vodka was in 2008 described as "fast growing", as it added a new flavor, "Citron", Swedish for lemon. In 2020,

Swedish National Food Agency The Swedish Food Agency (), formerly the National Swedish Food Administration () is a Swedish government agency that answers to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs. The agency is located in Uppsala. It is the central superviso ...

claimed that it may not be distributed as Swedish vodka because "Swedish vodka" is a protected designation according to EU rules, and thus must meet certain requirements. The Swedish National Food Agency believes that

Lantmännen ( Swedish for "farmers", literally "land/rural men") is a Swedish agricultural cooperative. Owned by 19,000 Swedish farmers, they have 10,000 employees, operations in over 20 countries and an annual turnover of SEK 50 billion (approximately EUR ...

violates some of these requirements when the company transports the concentrated 96 percent alcohol to the United States to be diluted with water there.

References

External links

* American vodkas {{Distilled-drink-stub