The History of the Andrén family

Andréns Konditori (bakery) was founded in 1868 by Anders Emanuel Andrén after completing his pastry training in Gothenburg, Sweden. The family bakery & café was established in Lilla Edet, a small roadside village between Trollhättan and Gothenburg, five hours Southwest of Stockholm, and close to the Göta Canal (a river) which provided easy access for those who came by boat.

After reconstructing the building in its new location, Anders Emanuel brought one of his sons into the family business, Bror Emanuel, (Manne - as he was called), was a man with many talents including baking, and candy-making, as well as a farming and inventing. Many of the ingredients for the store came directly from Manne's farm in Blixered, located just north of Lilla Edet. Additionally, as an inventor, Manne, helped utilize the heat produced by the ovens warm the baker's joining apartments and rooms in the building.

As you can imagine, Manne was very popular among the locals in Lilla Edet but passed away quite suddenly in 1928, leaving the responsibility of running the family bakery to his only daughter, Mary. At the age of 16, Mary began the daunting task of taking over as owner and manager of the family business together with her grand mother. An outstanding and fearless woman, Mary managed to steer the company and its employees in the right direction and drive to become a leader in the fine confectioner era in Lilla Edet. People came from the all over to buy their fresh-baked breads, pastries, chocolate confections and other goods as well as to sit down for coffee in the charming café or outside in the beautiful gardens behind the bakery.

Torgny Emanuel, Mary's only son, (also called Manne) was born in 1945 and grew up watching his mother run the family bakery. He quickly learned the talents of baking and, as a young man, studied at a nationally well known Swedish baking and confectioner's school. He then travelled abroad to work at the famous Honold La Confeteri classic pastry shop in Zurich, Switzerland before returning to the café in Lilla Edet where he continued to develop his career while working alongside his mother. In 1975, Manne, took over the responsibility of the bakery himself and continued to run a successful business together with competent staff and servers. Mary remained a figure in the daily running of the bakery and was eventually joined by the fifth generation baker in the family, Anders Emanuel.

Born in 1973, Emanuel grew up very close to the family business and demonstrated at an early age that he had inherited the creative baking bloodline. He eventually became very versatile in the candymaking profession and in 2002 opened his own business, Ganache AB, as the new "line" of the family tradition. Today, it's called Emanuel Andrén Gastronomy AB. Unfortunately, Mary passed away that same year and never had the chance to see this new evolution in the family business by her only grandson.

The bakery has undergone a number of renovations over the years. In 1993, a total renovation was completed on the entire building, just in time to celebrate the bakery´s 125th anniversary. A few years after that Manne and Emanuel landscaped the backyard into a Japanese-inspired garden with fish ponds, seasonal flowers, green grass and outdoor seating; a place to relax and enjoy a good coffee and something sweet for all the guests.

Currently, Emanuel, along with his father Manne are preserving the bakery, shop and café with all of its historical charm, which includes over 100 years of "Gustavian" style furniture, antiques, wallpaper and ancestral family photos that hang on the walls.

For a few years, Andrén's Konditori AB (which was run as a partnership between father, Manne, and son, Emanuel), shared the same roof with Emanuel's company allowing the two to work side by side. Today, Emanuel has taken over the entire century-old bakery shop, honoring his family by producing beautiful pieces of culinary couture chocolate to people all over the world.