Everything seemed to be going well in Jón Óskar Árnason’s culinary career — until it wasn’t.
Born and raised in Iceland, Árnason teamed up with his then-wife, Sarah, to open a bistro named Bryggargartan in her Swedish hometown in 2004. Five years later, they moved to Skellefteå, a town 480 miles north of Stockholm with a population of fewer than 80,000 people.
Skellefteå, a region in Swedish Lapland, has become Scandinavia’s “pantry,” in the wake of the New Nordic culinary movement. It’s where many Michelin-starred chefs forage, hunt and catch their own ingredients, including grouse, Arctic char and Arctic cloudberries, for their restaurants. Árnason is one such chef.
“Our goal was to bring high-level gastronomy to a region that had been in a gastronomic dead end for decades,” Árnason told Business Insider.
Árnason said he always felt in control of his career, but when the pandemic hit, he found himself at a crossroads. After nearly two decades of marriage, he and his wife were divorcing, and his daughter Judith had moved away—she was starting a career as a sommelier. Árnason wanted to take it further.
Árnason hand-selects ingredients like berries, herbs and roots like deerberry and cloudberries. Jon Oscar Arnason
His divorce led him to a new hobby
Árnason, now 46, had considered selling the restaurant, but when the pandemic hit, he said no buyers were interested in purchasing it, so he continued to run it with his ex-wife.
But he still wanted to find another channel for his creativity.
He found inspiration four years ago while sitting in his seaside home overlooking the Baltic Sea. He wanted to know what the nature around him would taste like when distilled with alcohol.
“The hours of sunshine and the Nordic climate must have an influence on the taste,” said Árnason. “Our Swedish water can certainly produce an exceptional gin that can be served neat and not always in a cocktail.”
Rather than using dried juniper, cloves and peppercorns from Asia to make a typical London Dry, Árnason began hand-picking his own berries, herbs and roots like deerberry and cloudberries – ingredients that flourish and are in full bloom in Swedish Lapland, depending on the season.
Arnason explained that he doesn’t dry out his ingredients, but adds them fresh, allowing the spirit to be drunk neat or with a mixer. In contrast, popular gin brands like Hendricks and Tanqueray use dried botanicals or essences to achieve their flavors.
“I want to work with what nature gives me and create something so clean that it can be enjoyed pure,” explains Árnason.
Árnason transformed his daughter’s bedroom into a makeshift distillery. Jon Oscar Arnason
A new hobby led to a new career
After turning Judith’s bedroom into a makeshift distillery, production slowly became more than a hobby. It became a business.
This is what ultimately led to the creation of Ógin, which means “not a gin” in Icelandic.
Árnason teamed up with art director and designer Jakob Nylund. “Together we developed the plan to make Ógin a premium spirits company focused on products for the world’s finest restaurants,” he said.
Árnason financed his first prototype with funds from prepaid orders. He contacted people he had met during his years in the kitchen. “A lot of the initial investment came from my own money and time. I also managed to get a small amount from an agricultural fund funded by the European Union, but to be honest, the biggest investment was the time that Jakob and I put in,” he said.
“We also had the support of my bank from the beginning of the project, which surprisingly believed in us,” he said. Árnason did not share details of the bank loan with BI.
It wasn’t until two years later, when Swedish investor Konrad Bergström joined them, that they gained greater financial freedom. “A customer of my restaurant, who had become a friend, joined us as a partner, which made us more economically viable,” Árnason said. Bergström is a Swedish serial entrepreneur, perhaps best known for founding X Shore, a company that claims to be the “Tesla of the seas.”
Árnason credits Swedish water with making gin, which can be served neat or in cocktails. Jon Oscar Arnason
Today, bottles of Ógin listed on the brand’s website cost between 751 and 1,688 Swedish kronor, or $74 to $165.
Árnason isn’t the first chef to dabble in the spirits world. Michelin-starred chefs Michael Roux Junior and Alex Dilling, as well as celebrity TV host Guy Fieri, have also launched their own spirits.
The global gin market is on the rise and is expected to grow by $7.36 billion between 2023 and 2028, according to Technavio, a market research firm.
Divide the passion
At the beginning of his project, the chef bottled 70 liters of gin. Today, he produces around 10,000 liters per season. and produces both gin and vodka. All of his clients are Michelin-starred restaurants, and he intends to keep it that way.
“I’m not going to sell to every restaurant or supermarket in Europe,” he said, adding that he wants to open up the clientele to high-end hotels and high-end bars.
The chef still runs the restaurant with his ex-wife, splitting his time between her and his new business. The brand’s workload varies with the seasons.
Árnason says the company has become profitable, but declines to give details. “It’s still small, and it will probably be a few years before I earn more from Ógin than from Bryggargatan,” he said.
As Ógin expands, Árnason says he is in no rush: “It’s about building a brand that represents the highest quality and no compromise.”
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