What the heck is going on with Svedka?

[@amandas7368]

This is super interesting! My guess is that it is related to the court case in 2020 where they were told that Svedka was not allowed to be considered Swedish vodka because they used US water. It would make sense that they do not want to talk about it because they used the branding for way longer than they were permitted to - they would have had to change it in 2020 but it took another year for them to actually change it. Seems like they also stopped buying the raw liqour from Sweden in 2020 as the factory that produces it here completely stopped producing vodka and only made hand sanitizer during covid. 2021 they also reversed the decision on swedish vodka, so it is perfectly okay to name it that now, but by the time they reached that decision my guess is that Svedka was already in the middle of rebranding and had found the much cheaper american corn alternative anyway as they needed to continue production when the swedish factory decided to create only hand sanitizer. Obviously this is a lot of speculation, but it seems like the american distillery is Spirits Marque One in San Fransisco still, so maybe you could get hold of them? :)

[@Hannah-se1qt]

If it was a court case you could file a freedom of information act to get the documents

[@MyName-sk8wl]

Ohhhhh I used to question why the little “made in” changed, I thought it was cus I was trippin and maybe I was just wasted cus people would tell me that they didn’t see the difference, or that nothing has changed, now I know for a fact that I drive better when I’m drunk

[@dale5612]

I bought a bottle that they cover with a plastic wrapping and the vodka has things floating in it

[@hanskanns1710]

Tl:dr

[@carlossaavedra-nilsson8522]

Svedka used to be sold here in Sweden ages ago , it was in the special order catalogue (beställningssortimentet) . It was removed from the catalogue when the brand was sold and they started sending the vodka in tanks for bottelling it in the US instead, that's what I was told by the staff at Systembolaget. Svedka was middle of the road quality imho but they were the only brand that had cherry flavour. I tried a few and only liked and used to buy the cherry flavoured one, still have an unopened bottle here at home.

[@MeaganAfterDark]

No way! That's so interesting! I had no idea that it was sold in Sweden at one point. I guess that makes sense since it wasn't bought by Constellation Brands until 2007. Thanks for sharing!

[@Jonsson474]

It wasn’t very good and vodka is not that big of a product in Sweden anyway.

[@mediaSophia88]

Thank you for sharing.

[@GeorgeSheeler]

Thank you! Ive been buying svedka for years and just noticed the missing Swedish flag, and did 5 minutes of research before finding your video. Great work. Cant wait to get to the bottom of this mystery!

[@annasamuelsson6593]

Vilket intressant mysterium! Jag får verkligen känslan av att det är något skumt i kulisserna! Bra jobbat av dig!

[@Plexsusmax]

tomtar i mossen även

[@Anquarius]

Jättebra video som vanligt! Riktigt intressant. Ditt detektivarbete är fenomenalt!

[@stefanjohansson2373]

Men eftersom fabriken stängde 2018 så vet jag inte om jag kan hålla med. Det tar 1 minut att hitta sanningen via Google, men det sabbar förstås videons vinkling.

[@MeaganAfterDark]

Vad sökte du på? Jag har försökt allt jag kunde.

[@fredriklarsson9415]

@@stefanjohansson2373 Jag hittar inte ett skit om att fabriken stängde ner 2018. Var hittade du det?

[@andreaspersic3262]

@@stefanjohansson2373 Nej den är inte alls stängd.

[@a.e.9795]

Fabriken Lantmännen Reppe AB är definitivt inte stängd då den fortfarande tillverkar råspriten till Lisch Vodka.

[@MathiasHeinel]

By the way, råsprit is raw alcohol, the stuff coming out of the distiller before it is mixed with water The thing is that Lisch Vodka is mixed with Swedish water. Svedka with some kind of American water. Which gives them somewhat different taste and characteristics.

[@mgntstr]

råsprit is the boiled stuff comings out of the distiller? It is literally boiled. Liars, how dare they.

[@richardjohnson9212]

Indeed 'raw spirit' would be the >180 proof raw alcohol coming out of the distiller before water is added back for proofing down to 80 proof

[@mattwho42]

I'm 5 min in, drunk off of Svedka, and I'm going to save this video to finish later. I'm super invested with the fellow named Taco. I'm not sure if your video addresses this, but I was trying to find out why Svedka switched over from the Swedish flag to a "Made in America" branding. Thank you for this video!

[@roberttheswedishbackpacker]

"If a guy named Taco is going to tell me something, I am going to take it with a grain of salt" 😂👌🏻

[@jajlertil]

When the media can’t be trusted to bring us the real important stories and serious investigative journalism, Meagan steps in 🙏

[@mediaSophia88]

Yes, Im so glad she made this video. I had no idea.

[@reallivebluescat]

its great to see you cheerful and joyful again! i hope you dont feel a pressure to only do swedish topic videos ? would be cool to see things about your life in the US aswell

[@lokis7230]

Probably started as what we call "renomé-snyltning" on Absolut Vodka. They bought the alcohol from a not very fancy industry in Sweden. Ethanol is ethanol, could have been car fuel as well. When they had made a brand they could easaly change to some cheaper ethanol instead. Very interesting video! Well done!

[@Gobblimarie]

Really interesting video! Along with the one about the dishcloths, it's gold! Thank you! 😊

[@MeaganAfterDark]

Thank you! :)

[@NominePatris]

Fascinerande video!! Känns som en konspirationsteori om svensk vodka! :)

[@valo2872]

I love the missions you go on!👍😁 First Swedish reusable dish cloths and now "Swedish" vodka. Top investigative journalism! Keep up the good work! And I love that you do it with a Swedish theme.

[@ABlindMoose]

My guess is that it’s cheaper to make it in the US, but if Svedka is so famous for being a “Swedish vodka”… it would probably hurt their brand if they can’t call themselves Swedish anymore. I’d bet that there is a “shut-up-and-maybe-they-won’t-notice” policy in place.

[@Kypreparedness]

The juice used to be made in Sweden and shipped here to Kentucky to be bottled. Then it changed to all made in USA and now sazerac is about to purchase the brand from CBI

[@albertbergquist2113]

It makes sense to go silent if you cheapens your product, as when changing grain and destilation times.

[@soundlyawake]

this is blowing my entire mind

[@faderkorall]

I think they chose to not announce the rebranding because it might actually hurt their sales cause if feels less exotic or something

[@ArleneAdkinsZell]

Excellent video, love this kind of research. The small trivial things make life so interesting.

[@ellaw5881]

Herregud vad intressant! Älskar när du gör dessa typer av videos! 🥰

[@XareSwe]

Great video Meagan, almost like a mystery one that spanned over quite some time ^^ and fun seeing my comment in there too. Hope you'll be able too stay more permanently in Sweden eventually if that's still a goal of yours, Sweden would be better off with you in it

[@Gene1954]

My guess is more expensive Swedish vodka has been substituted with corn ethanol that was diverted from the stream being mixed into the unleaded auto fuel.

[@JamiMarie]

This is blowing my mind. I literally searched this because my husband and I noticed the flag was gone. We love svedka. We don’t drink much. But when we do…it’s svedka. Always has been. So we were curious. Now I’m done the rabbit hole too

[@Hakuna_Matata.]

Intressant video! Bra jobbat med all sökande på information hehe

[@Smiiizk]

Really interesting video, hope you get some answers and keep us updated! Also are you watching this years Melodifestivalen? We would love to hear you thoughs this year aswell!!

[@thatrandomswedishperson]

This whole video is like a scooby doo mystery and honestly Im here for it.

[@Woolt21]

I know this is a year old but it sounds like to me they decided to go a cheaper route and thus they couldn’t state it was from Sweden anymore. I’m sure it’s far more expensive to use a winter wheat from Sweden than American corn since he have abundance of it and it is locally grown. Same with distilling it less. To save money

[@jerryhall5709]

After 53 years in Sweden this is the first time I hear about Svedka. Learn something new every day. Explorer is the vodka I grew up with. Even my grandmother used to have a bottle in the fridge.

[@babyluna7414]

I myself have been drinking this vodka for ages in the US. I will be going through the old bottles I have to see if I have one of the old bottles. This surprises me but also makes sense as they also lowered the price buy 2$, yeah 2$ but still a clue maybe lol. I never thought this was actually Swedish vodka but it has changed in taste as well so…. And thank you so much for this video. I saw a video about tequila being not really tequila and thought I needed to look up what I occasionally drank. 😂

[@davidandrews4818]

My information is that Svedka is now a four times distilled liquor, made from US corn (probably not NGO), in Tennessee. So it is a middle-shelf corn liquor, that if it was market as that could, could be sold for 30% more here in the States as moonshine. It is not yet sold in a plastic bottles...but still sold at import prices.

[@Pia-lm7qi]

I love your dedication!

[@Look_for_the_light]

The reason is that "Swedish vodka" is a protected designation according to EU rules, and thus must meet certain requirements. The National Food Administration considers that Lantmännen violates some of these requirements when the company transports the concentrated 96% alcohol to the USA to be diluted with water there.

[@empetus3135]

Great video - I recently bought a bottle and myself noticed the complete branding redesign and removal of all references to Sweden and was wondering what was going on. I tried to look online and found nothing....except for a link to this video. Will stop buying this brand now that it's completely different in every way. Thanks for the great information!

[@tonynilsson9070]

You scared them, they had to rebrand 😀

[@sofiapaulsdotteravilahenri9266]

Very interesting and good research! I have never heard of SVEDKA either!!

[@gustav2376]

Ser fram emot en granskande video i veckan. Finns mycket att gräva i där ute om man har tid över.

[@stefanjohansson2373]

Låt oss granska en fabrik som stängde 2018. Eller så lär vi oss att googla 😂

[@gustav2376]

Meghan gör det bra men du kanske inte tål smarta kvinnor!?

[@fidshimmer]

Just noticed my new bottle of svedka is 4 times distilled and product of USA Your video is very informative I am definitely switching either back to absolut. Or finlandia I feel ripped off. This rebranding is more bait and switch. If I wanted corn derived ethanol I would drink Kamchatka brand, and expect the massive hangover it causes

[@bytacc]

Great video! Really interesting!

[@hollyharris5939]

K, so glad I found you from your Zeducation interview video. You're hilarious.

[@HEJtoss]

Jag älskar att du lägger den här tiden på detta 😅 Sjukt skumt ändå!

[@eldsprutandedrake]

I'm from Lidköping and I know about Svedka mostly because I have two friends who worked at the Reppe plant which produces the ethanol for svedka. But calling it a distillery in the sense that most people seem to think about alcohol distilleries is a bit missleading. It's a big bio-refinery plant that produces glucose, gluten, starch and other things from wheat. Ethanol is just one of the product streams. Most of the ethanol goes to Svedka, some to smaller brands, Swedish and foreign, and I'm not sure anymore but I know they did do biofuels as well. Also handsanitiser during the pandemic.

[@joekravetz4153]

Great video! I've been a Svedka fan for a long time (after Absolut did the same thing - sold out). I thought something was up with my Svedka lately, then on my last shopping trip I couldn't believe what I saw; "Made in USA"!! Then, like you, the first thing I did is google "where Svedka is made". All the info out there is OLD and says "Sweden". They fooled me for over a year, but never again will a bottle of Svedka be in my freezer. Now, to find my new vodka ... As in everything, it isn't a challenge to make an expensive vodka (or car, etc). The challenge is having a great product at a great price.

[@FredrikGranlundkayaker]

Try to get hold of Stoli Vodka (The vodka sold in Europe was rebranded from Stolichnaya after the Russian invasion of Ukraine because they wanted it to not sound Russian) distilled in Latvia. It was originally a Soviet vodka distilled in several different distilleries throughout the Soviet Union so there are several different producers, but the one made in Latvia has been rebranded. Best vodka I have ever tried. Other good options would be the Ukranian vodkas Nemiroff, Kozak and Dima's.

[@ChristinaLynnF]

This is what i drink and was very confused when i asked my husband to pick me up a bottle and keeping in mind it is late August, i was very confused when he said "for some reason they are being extremely patriotic with their labeling this time, i could barely find it in the store" I was like why would they be patriotic when it is a Swedish vodka and he was like no... its made in the us 🤯. I'm just here to win an argument that I am not crazy and in fact used to say made in Sweden lol so thanks.

[@kallehagglund82]

Really love your dedication! I live in Gothenburg but I do have a small cottage just outside of Lidköping. Some 15 minutes south. If you ever wanna come over and just knock on their door. Holla at me. För detta var faktiskt en riktig "Cluedo" som man vill få svar på. Om inte annat har jag en hembrännings maskin så vi kan göra egen sprit på 😉

[@Achmesu]

Råsprit is not the grain. It is alcohol of very high percentage that is later mixed with water to get the final spirit. The letter said they used the same råsprit but not the same water to do the vodka.

[@rj.knitts3690]

OMG, this is SO interesting!!! :D MORE PLZ!!

[@malinw7016]

Wow, how weird. You did a great job!!

[@chrisqueen9499]

Strange that someone would be so obsessed about a vodka brand :D But still, I enjoyed looking at your face. Thanks

[@Shadowthevampire]

The swedish fish candy i dont know if that exists in like bags as you guys have ive remember only buying it as "lösgodis" where you pick yourself with a shovel from opened boxes and put in a paper bag. So im not sure if thats correct either i might be wrong tho?

[@sonnythorelli-hw7rj]

Changing from wheat to corn, I’d say this is not vodka any longer. Possibly they could call this “Brännvin” as you can brew this on any type of cereals. Potato is the most common. Thanks for your deep research - impressing. Keep going Meagan ❤

[@wadeturner2665]

The thing is, this isn't rebranding. The brand is Svedka. That hasn't changed. What has changed is where Constellation is sourcing their components from. Svedka used to be produced from Swedish ethanol that was distilled from Swedish winter wheat. This ethanol was shipped to the USA and diluted to 80 proof and bottled. (And also flavored the 14 different ways that all vodka brands seem to do these days.) Now, for whatever reason, Constellation cannot continue with that process. Someone here mentioned that the Swedish ethanol producer switched to making hand sanitizer due to Covid. Now Constellation has this brand, Svedka, that they can't continue producing the same way. So they have to figure out another way to produce it. So they find a contract distiller in the USA with an ethanol product, made from American corn, they can use that will work at their price point. It likely means that in order to meet that price point they can only pay for 4 distillations, not five. Or perhaps corn only needs 4 distillations to get to an approximation of the previously used wheat derived ethanol. But the brand hasn't changed. It's still Svedka, it's just not made in the same way or in the same place. Compare it to cars. Toyota, Honda, and BMW all make cars in the USA. They don't call these cars by different brand names.

[@Belnick6666]

i never heard of Svedka, but there are other products that are Swedish and sold in USA, but no longer or barely sold in Sweden anymore

[@claresloane6638]

Omg- just got back from Total Wine and thought I had lost my mind! Thank you for validating my sanity!

[@blackking4610]

Thanks for the video. I'm here in Los Angeles, and I'm sipping on a bottle of the original Swedish five-time distilled Svedka vodka. I just bought it at a target, maybe they still have some of the old original bottles left that they're selling.

[@graceinbangkok]

Svedka has long been a favorite, I was so disappointed today to get a bottle and see these changes. I was like what the ....

[@bertilnyman4784]

Mycket intressant video. Imponerande undersökande arbete. Hoppas mysteriet når sin lösning.

[@gaiseric22]

Anybody notice a difference in the flavor after the switch to American corn?

[@Frank-pe9pk]

Megan you really are causing international crisis! I’m thinking Taco needs to explain what’s going on. I’m thinking you might find him in Mexico or New Mexico but not in Sweden!😂

[@nwestgart]

I would love to hear your thoughts on this year's melodi fest, absolutely loved last year's video :)

[@fluffinmcpuffin1879]

Fosters Lager is confusing too. Does the company who owns Victoria Bitters own it?

[@11Anselm13]

Meagan, you should try using the 'Wayback machine' for your digging.

[@mediaSophia88]

So, glad you made this video. I was wondering the same thing. This video is really funny towards the end. You really have a point. It is really upsetting. I am probably going to stop buying their products. Its a shame. Hopefully you find the answers you was looking for.

[@outpost990]

I was very thrown off when I saw the bottle had changed, basically I think it comes down to that they know people will buy it no matter what it's certainly weird though lol

[@shawnsan9]

Very interesting. That's my go-to brand.

[@arvidroos9055]

Can you do a reaction video of Eurovision song contest this year with your top picks? Last time you did it was great!

[@sonofisai]

Was it ever made in Sweden? Maybe they fear facing lawsuits if it was made public that it was actually made in the US all the time. Now they're making a silent change.

[@andylindy]

Svedka was made from 192 proof raw spirit from Lantmännen Reppe distillery in Lidköping. Dilluted and bottled in the US.

[@Ca11mero]

That's what I assume as well. Could be some changes in laws either in the US, Sweden or EU saying that you need to fulfill certain requirements to call something "Swedish" or whatever country/place. Think of the Greek man on the "Turkish yogurt" packaging for example, they quickly changed once they found out. Could be someone on Svedka figuring out that this is not enough to call it Swedish and changed in hope that someone wouldn't notice.

[@stefanjohansson2373]

Fabriken lades ned 2018. Googla vetja 😂

[@stefanjohansson2373]

@@andylindy The factory closed 2018. Just Google it…

[@nisseknott]

Stefan Johansson Vart framgår det? Vad jag kan se så tillverkar fortfarande Lantmännen Reppe råsprit på 96%. Och tidningen ATL skrev om detta iaf 2020. Där framgick det att Livsmedelverket menar att varan/den färdiga vodkan inte får marknadsföras som svensk pga av att man exporterat 96% sprit och gjort resten av processen i USA - amerikanskt vatten i vodkan - ingen svensk produkt!

[@christofferahlund2467]

Gurl we wanna know your thoughts on this year’s Melfest

[@MartinAhlman]

One new years eve, some friends of mine had a bottle of Svedka. It was sort of the American flad, still had a sort of Swedish flag (White Nordic cross on a silver background???) and it was still produced in Sweden.The one thing I noticed was that it tasted foul, like really bad homemade alcohol. I was really surprised they even sold this bottle, let alone more of them! What in the world makes people drink this?You said it was made corn now, that's a new reason to use it for cleaning, not for drinking it! I still have the empty bottle from before 2017 and the secret rebranding, just to remind me not to ever drink it again. And I have tasted some pretty vile stuff in my times (Chinese "whisky" that cost 2.50 SEK for two litres. It was still better than Svedka. This video was perfect for my mood to go up, up, up! Thank you, and I hope you can come back to Sweden soon, we miss you!

[@evek9718]

Super interesting :) I'm Swedish and I'm don't think I've ever heard about Svedka..

[@CalvinP420]

Wow, my thought process 100% 2 years ago, and still haven’t gotten an explanation

[@Sara-mr1hs]

It's a wonder this video did not unexplainably disappear... 😱 Guess they hoped no one would notice the changes on the bottle 🧐

[@rasmuswestridge]

Born and raised in Sweden men ditt engagemang i Sverige och dess varumärke(n?) får mig att känna att det kanske var mig Migrationsverket skulle ha kastat ut istället för dig! Superkul video btw!

[@danieljmahoney-zy2vr]

I just realized this today. I noticed it was giving me bad hangovers for awhile. I dumped many bottles out.

[@elmixern]

When i visited US 4 years ago i was baffled about the amount of Svedka wich i have never heard of before was sold in almost every liquor store. Interesting

[@dahlizz99]

Damn you might've made a $300M company rebrand lol. Well done!

[@jonathancathey2334]

There was an article out in the 2010's . Stating about 70% to 80% of the low to mid grade vodka in the United States are made in the same 5 distilleries. Take Grey Goose vodka as a example. Lots of liquor stores in the United States have Grey Goose Vodka on the top shelf. This is all a marketing tool. Years ago Grey Goose vodka was sold to a parent company. The parent company obviously wanted to save money, and importing alcohol is expensive. So the parent company went and changed the distillery and the bottle. Now the product in the Grey Goose bottle is still good, but not nearly the quality of the original import. The bottle shape was changed for the specific reason. So most liquor stores in the United States would have to keep it on the top shelf, because the bottle itself cannot be put anywhere else.

[@lancelogan]

I actually used to work for the factory that make svedka (sort of). Still haven't heard about the brand.

[@Diddlydewce]

I just bought some today never had it before. I have yet to open it. Where's the potatoe juice???

[@bengtneiss5021]

According to an article Svedka was introduced to the American market in 1998 and the crude alcohol is distilled at the Lantmännen Reppe distillery in Lidköping. They have a website as well that you can search on Google (KZbin doesn't seem to like url's in the comment section :-) )

[@witext]

I hate when something pretty big happens and there's no news about it, drives me freaking insane Like what? You just changed the entire product and said nothing? and the only reason they didn't sell it in Sweden was because they don't have the correctly sized bottle? juts get a correctly sized bottle then what the hell This company feels very fishy

[@carsaroundtheworld841]

Hey I’m in the process of getting my residence permit really curious why got kicked out for so I know what to not do lol

[@AdirondackRuby]

This is absolutely wild! So many questions, zero answers. I prefer Polish vodkas, myself (If I have to, I'll go for Russian) so I've never had Svedka...but this was still weirdly fascinating. Big thanks to Tyler Zed for sending me this way. I need to know more!

[@jannepuhakka79]

Yay, you're back - missed u bestie! Looks like Diane Sawyer can retire safely since you are doing such a good job digging up all the dirt on Svedka.

[@annas1009]

Intressant. Jag misstänker att de blev lite nervös efter att ha fått ditt brev och att du ville besöka dom :) De kände kanske efter det att de behövde fixa några misstag och därför gjorde några små ändringar på flaskan. Jag hoppas du får chansen att en dag åter igen komma tillbaka hit till Örebro och sverige.

[@derreander]

First time hereing about them was in 2019 when going on a cruser whit Royla caribien.

[@senchaholic]

I love this kind of video. Amazing stuff! You've done similar videos before. Maybe this is your thing? You're great at this investigating type of videos. Very entertaining! And nice editing. I hope you'll dig into this type of videos more. You put so much effort into your videos!

[@volymV2]

I got an article in swedish bout svedka, in Lidköping They used to make the naturally one, and original svedka they used to make in Blomberg in sweden, am i wrong ? Article is from 2011

[@volymV2]

But before this video i had never heard about svedka, in sweden its Explorer vodka and absolute vodka we drink..

[@FreeThinkingperson]

did you try wayback?

[@eyesharp]

Just found a reddit post about this with a interestingcomment: "I think the production may have been switched to the Akva name, and the Svedka brand was maybe sold to another producer." So Akva has the same characteristics as Svedka, Made in Sweden, distilled 5 times and low cost. Seams plausible at least.

[@Isuukuu]

I recognized that Systembolaget straight away, lol my home city ^^

[@whatsleft5059]

The swedish food agency decided that they are not allowed to call it "swedish vodka" since that is a protected designation. Apparently it has to be made a certain way to be allowed to be called that. That is probably the reason for the rebranding. It is still destilled in sweden though so the "us made" is bullcrap.

[@andersljung4224]

When are you coming back?!

[@peterwestgarth1477]

It’s fascinating that the worth of an organisation is measured by its online profile.

[@Henrik46]

"Svedka" is a portmanteau, a mashup of two or more words to form a new meaning. Another example is "hangry", from hungry+angry.

[@iam4u2env]

Great video. Thank you.

[@laurenonmoonlightdr]

This is false advertising and they are covering that up!! Good report! New subscriber!

[@freemangriffin4953]

Meagan, have you been following Melodifestivalen this year? The 12 finalists have been decided and all of them are up on their channel. If you have seen them I wonder what your favorites are this year? Two of my favorites didn't make it to the final (Shirley Camp's Let There Be Angels and Alvaro Estrella's Suave) ): Oh well! I want Italy to win Eurovision this year (Brividi)! Loved your videos last year on Melodifestivalen and Eurovision!

[@Aconda]

Interesting video. Thank you.

[@marinajohansson8590]

Love this video!