International Opal
Omnipresent in Iceland, Opal can also be found in other countries. Photo: Friðrik Tryggvason
Everybody in Iceland knows what Opal sweets are. Whether or not we partake ourselves of the sweet black-liquorice pastilles (an acquired taste), we have all heard of them and immediately recognise the funky concentric-circled packaging. Many Icelanders and expatriates in Iceland love them and consume them in great quantities. But did you know they were also popular in, for instance, America and Russia?
Opal is marketed as Nu-Breath on the east coast of the United States and is remarkably popular. They are advertised as a breath freshener rather than as a sweet and apparently mask alcohol, tobacco and food odours. Nu-Breath distributors are found in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Delaware. It is perhaps their stated ability to freshen alcohol breath that is the key to their success…
In the other direction, two forty-foot containers of Opal sweets leave Iceland for Russia every year. The sweets are dried for longer for the Russian market and are therefore crunchier than their Icelandic equivalents. They are shipped out loose and repackaged in Russia under a Russian name.
Opal is marketed as Nu-Breath in USA. Photo: Nu-Breath
Two containers like this one full of Opal are shipped to Russia every year. Photo: Lion Containers
