Danish Luxury

Candy Licorice Galle & Jessen

Spunk

Small Danish pastilles launched by Galle & Jessen in 1971, sold as salty licorice in a black box and as wine gums in a green one.

Designed by
Tor Frederikson
First made
1971

Visit tomsgroup.com

Four black boxes of Spunk salty licorice
Four black boxes of Spunk salty licorice
Four green boxes of Spunk wine gums
Four green boxes of Spunk wine gums

Pictures © Galle & Jessen, from weboutlet.toms.dk.

Why it is renowned

Spunk is known for its small box and its mascot, a "fantasy animal" drawn by an eight-year-old girl, with the pastilles shaped like the figure.1 The name comes from Astrid Lindgren: she let Galle & Jessen use her made-up word from Pippi Longstocking but turned down the firm's wish to put Pippi on the box.2 It is sold mainly in Denmark and Germany.3

The story

Galle & Jessen launched Spunk in 1971 as a children's version of its Ga-Jol licorice pastille.23 "Spunk" is the word Pippi invents and can find no use for in Pippi in the South Seas; Lindgren agreed to the name, and the firm drew up its own figure for the box instead of Pippi.32 As on Ga-Jol's boxes, each lid carries a short saying or piece of advice.1

Spunk still comes as salty licorice pastilles, made with 5 % ammonium chloride and raw licorice, and as wine gums, in 23 g boxes.45

  • Ga-Jol, the licorice pastille Spunk began as a children's version of
Sources
  1. Spunk - Wikipedia, den frie encyklopædi. da.wikipedia.org, read 1 October 2026.
  2. Sødt, salt og salmiak: Danskere og lakrids er en romance, der ikke vil dø. dr.dk, read 1 October 2026.
  3. Spunk (candy) - Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org, read 1 October 2026.
  4. Spunk Lakrids 4 x 23 g - Spunk - weboutlet.toms.dk. weboutlet.toms.dk, read 1 October 2026.
  5. Spunk Vingummi 4 x 23 g - Spunk - weboutlet.toms.dk. weboutlet.toms.dk, read 1 October 2026.

Last checked 1 October 2026, against the maker's own pages.