Half a floor down on Torsgatan 75 in Stockholm, Haga Tårtcompani och Bageri (Haga Cake company and Bakery) has just opened. After only a few weeks, they have already been awarded the distinction of having Vasastan’s best cream buns. No one who has tasted Oscar Målevik’s delicacies before would be surprised.
True Womance’s Andrea Berglund meets them a few days after Shrove Tuesday and wonders curiously how many cream buns were made?

“We made 1,200 cream buns. We were not prepared for the product, but were obviously very pleased. The rush was so immense that we had to bring in extra staff on Tuesday and my partner, who has never stood at a cash register, was also drafted in,” explains Oskar Målevik.

“Yes, on that day neither you nor I managed to eat lunch,” laughs Anna Cardelius from the cash register, where she is serving a customer.

Anna and Oscar startedHaga Tårtcompani och Bageritogether. We sit down for a chat, but since it is just the two of them who work here, they take turns to break off the conversation to serve the customers that are pouring in all the time.

The colleagues and partners met when they both worked atFriends of Adam. Oscar is a baker and Anna is originally a nutritionist, but has also worked with product development, sales and marketing. They talked about starting their own business together 18 months before the opening ofHaga Tårtcompani och Bageri. 

What is it like to start a business with your friend?
“Starting your own business is like getting married,” says Oscar, “and the employees are like children. We have shared finances and communication is perhaps the most important thing of all in order to make it work.

“Starting your own business is like getting married,” says Oscar, “and the employees are like children.”

“Yes, it’s very important to discuss everything and really make sure that you both want the same thing,” says Anna.

After searching for premises for just over six months, they eventually found a former photo studio in which we are now sitting. “The transformation of the premises is difficult to imagine now, it has changed completely,” they explain. It was Oscar who saw the potential despite the boarded up windows and a completely different atmosphere then. But it wasn’t long before Anna was on board, and the work in getting the place in order started. The planned, painted, sewed cushions themselves, made the lamp shades and Anna’s husband helped with the furniture. They already feel established, even though the area is still not what it will become.

“This will become a city in ten years. More and more companies are moving into premises in the vicinity. We know this because, among other things, we have been asked to send welcome cakes to new arrivals from already established companies,” chuckles Oscar.

Can you tell us a bit more about what your vision was when you started?
“We had talked about several different types of concept before we found the premises. Pastries and cakes were going to be the focus even more from the beginning, but when we found this location, the conditions were different. We offer much more than what we thought from the beginning,” says Anna. We’ve always wanted to focus on quality and have an open production so the customers can see into the bakery and watch Oscar making the customer’s cream bun, for example. This gives them a better understanding of the craftsmanship,” she continues. And the customers also ask more questions and we like that!

“It is important for both of us that we have fun,” Anna continues. Sometimes it feels like I’m pretending to do business when I’m at the cash register, I think about my mother’s grandmother who ran a country store in Småland. In those days it was different for a woman to run her own business.

Where do you find inspiration?
“The customers,” says Oscar emphatically. I enjoy being in the shop and talking to them and getting feedback and even if it is negative, the actual interaction is fun. It’s like an ego boost! I have always loved my job, but now that I run my own business, there’s a new level of energy.

I have always loved my job, but now that I run my own business, there’s a new level of energy.

“I like the fact that I can influence everything from packaging, the premises to our finances. Yes, even the finances can be fun to work with,” says Anna with a smile.

“We’d like all our staff to be able to stand at the cash register, as well as behind the baking table, we think this is inspirational for the customer, that he/she always has highly skilled staff to ask. It is obvious that this won’t always be possible, but we try,” says Anna.

“It’s important to establish the place now at the beginning, and we must therefore be here and do a lot ourselves,” interjects Oscar. We are ultimately responsible.

They talk about the long days before the opening and now afterwards. They are looking for staff; bakers, confectioners and shop staff, but have not yet found the right people. Anna says that her husband has started to tire of her long days, but Oskar interjects that he has also started his own business, so he knows what it’s like.

So we spontaneously arrive at the issue of equality.

What is it like in your industries?
“In the food industry, where I come from, it is quite equal between genders,” explains Anna. But you have seen things a bit differently, Oscar?

“Yes, the answer is both yes and no, but a lot needs to happen in terms of training. To start with there are very few post-secondary school training courses, only two which each take in 20 students. Otherwise, it is at secondary school you have to choose, and initially there are many girls starting there. They tend to be interested in confectionery but once they start work experience, they are not at all prepared for how heavy and sweaty the reality of being a baker is, so many quit and then mainly guys are left. I have worked a fair bit with chefs as well where the majority are men. It is a fairly masculine working environment. From what I’ve seen on the chef side of things in the baking industry, the gender balance is fairly equal,” concludes Oscar.

What is your favourite thing in terms of bakery products?
“I like the classics most of all,” says Anna, “cinnamon buns and princess gateau.”

“Budapest roll is my favourite,” says Oscar.

“But why don’t we have it in the shop? We must have them, maybe we can replace the mandarins on top with something more fun?

“Although, it’s the mandarins that make the pastry,” objects Oscar.

It is clear that the pairing of Oscar and Anna will deliver traditional quality and innovation – Stockholm’s bakery and dessert enthusiasts have a new place for enjoyment and inspiration!

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