![]() ![]() ![]() It’s something that lends itself to savouring rather than devouring on the hop. ![]() One of the most popular menu items is a coffee and home-made cake or chocolate. He now has 17 cafes with another two on the way. He relocated to New York City from Sweden in 2001, opening his first cafe, FIKA, near Central Park in 2006. Lars Akerlund has built a business empire on fika. It’s less about grabbing a shot of caffeine on the go and more about scheduling pauses in to the day. These days the aspirational, affluent, New Yorker, Londoner or Sydney-sider doesn’t just pop out of the office for coffee - they might sneak 15 minutes and go for fika. It’s a great way to get everyone’s views on how companies are run."Īnd more recently, the trend has gone global. "When you have flat structures it's important to listen to everyone and through the communal nature of fika, chatting between employees and management is encouraged. It’s flat and not very hierarchical," Astrom said. “Swedish management style differs to most other countries. Some of the best ideas and decisions happen at fika.”Īndreas Astrom, from the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, agrees. Long-lunching France is seventh - far ahead of Japan (20th) and Korea (30th), two countries known for long work hours.Ĭoffee breaks are so important to the Swedish that even the country’s mega-brand, Ikea,has a paragraph about on its corporate website: “More than a coffee break, fika is a time to share, connect and relax with colleagues. Sweden’s coffee-quaffing neighbour Norway is the second most productive nation, behind champs Luxembourg, while the workhorses of the US are fourth. There isn’t a caffeine index as such, but the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) does publish productivity data.Īnalysing productivity by employee in 38 countries, 2014 data reveal Sweden comes in at a respectable number 11. ![]()
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