Fauni trolls revived for Kultasuklaa’s Troll Chocolate

If you grew up in Finland in the 1950s or 1960s, you may remember the Fauni trolls, the handmade troll figures created by Helena and Martti Kuuskoski, which were hugely popular at the time. Over time, the Fauni trolls have become part of Finnish art history, which is now being revived in the form of many different products. Kicking off this revival is Troll Chocolate, created in collaboration between Arctic Golden Chocolate, Fauni Licensing Corporation and Grano.

The original Fauni troll figurines were made by hand from leather, fur and textiles. Because of this, each and every Fauni troll is unique, with some designs only being used once. The Fauni trolls will soon turn 75. In celebration of this, Fauni Licensing Corporation Oy intends to launch a number of new troll-themed products together with various partners.

“The Fauni trolls are a very interesting part of Finnish art history, so we are proud to be able to contribute to their revival in the form of our Troll Chocolate,” says chocolate entrepreneur and CEO of Kultasuklaa Juri Kaskela.

Chocolate factory Kultasuklaa was originally established in 1991 to serve as a tourist attraction as part of the Iittala Glass Capital, which is known throughout Finland as a hub of art and design. The factory’s production facilities have large windows that allow visitors to see how the chocolate is made. 

“We are a Finnish artisan workshop. We try to use as many domestic ingredients as possible and make products that are at the same time classical, yet always individual,” Juri emphasises. 

Each chocolate bar has an individual wrapper

The wrapper of the new Troll Chocolate is very colourful, vibrant and, above all, individual. Since each Fauni troll figure is unique, the idea was that each chocolate bar should also have a unique wrapper. This was achieved with Grano's new printing technology. With the help of an HP Indigo digital press and a new technique called HP Collage, Grano was able to define a visual appearance with specific elements that change position and size at random. 

“We use valuable ingredients and do much of the work by hand, and we want our packaging solutions to reflect these aspects as well. Our packaging must look good and put people in a good mood even before they taste the actual chocolate inside. The HP Collage technique provided the finishing touch to the collaboration between us, Fauni Licensing Corporation and Grano. It allowed us to print a large number of wrappers that are all individual and different,” Juri says.

“I was surprised by the end result. Our expectations were very high, and we had some doubts as to whether each wrapper would actually be different. Luckily the technique ended up working very well, and the print quality was also excellent. For such a complex idea, the solution ended up being quite simple,” Juri says. 

A people-centred and dialogue-based company culture

Kultasuklaa and Grano have been working together for a long time on packaging solutions. However, this was their first time that the new HP Collage technique was used. 

“Grano had previously presented the new technique to us, and we thought that it could work well in this context. Our graphic designer worked closely with Grano, which made the entire process very smooth and quick. This project is a great example of our successful cooperation with Grano,” Juri states. 

What Kaskela appreciates in particular about Grano is the way in which they treat their customers.

“Although Grano is a large company and Kultasuklaa is not necessarily a big player by comparison, we have always been treated like one. That is very important, in my opinion. No matter how small or large our order quantities, they always treat us with the same respect. Grano clearly has a people-centred and dialogue-based company culture that works well with us. Their production and all the related timetables always work really well,” Juri praises.