About us

Humble Beginnings At Berlin’s Weekly Markets

In October 1996, I took my liquorice to the Winterfeldtmarkt in Schoeneberg for the first time. It was to do Market Research – because I had this idea… Having grown up near the Dutch border, I was missing a “proper” liquorice selection in Berlin and wanted to find out if other people felt the same way.

It turned out that some customers knew liquorice and in particular, salty liquorice from Holland or Denmark. To other customers, liquorice only meant the wheels and pipes available in regular supermarkets. For some of the stronger pastilles, you even had to go to the pharmacy! That was the status quo on liquorice in 1996.

Soon, I started to offer my liquorice selections on a few of Berlin’s Markets. I drove my friend Frank’s old Volvo Amazon to Holland to buy goods. Apart from “Drop” (Dutch for liquorice) there were many other yummy “Snoepjes” (sweets) so the range was very dutch at the beginning.

Opening The First Specialist Liquorice Shop In Germany

In April 1997, I rented a storage space in Graefestrasse 75 – at the time, this was a quiet residential area in Kreuzberg. The rooms needed a lot of work, but with a lot of ambition and a little help from friends, we renovated the place and even put coving on the ceilings.

More and more, it became clear that what was meant to be a storage area, would actually make a nice little shop as well. With the help of our friend and professional photographer Dirk Soboll and the newly founded advertising agency “godz” from Cologne, we turned the idea into a solid concept for the first specialist liquorice shop in the whole of Germany. Dirk Soboll did the interior design. We soon agreed that we wanted to combine some old items (scales/ till) with a new and modern interior (glass, steel, wood). After all, liquorice has been known since hundreds of years (old), and we wanted to show its versatility and variety in a modern way (new). In the first specialist liquorice shop in Germany, we wanted to put the product at the heart of everything and the clear, clean appearance of the shop should underline this central position. kadó - means present and hopefully our shop will have this reputation for liquorice fans.

To make my plans reality, we needed a loan. Appointments at the banks were not very successful: “A liquorice shop? You’d have to add tea to the range. Or children’s clothes. At least offer some chocolate.“ Finally, a banker from the North knew what I meant and approved the loan. The magic word “internet” was helpful in securing the loan – the young advertising professionals urged us so reserve „kado.de“ as a domain because „the internet would change the world in the future“. Aha?

The Opening Party And Our First Day at Work

For our opening in September, we held a big kadó party. A few hours later our alarm went off – our first day at work! On Saturday the 20^th September 1997 we opened the shop at 9 am, at least that was what we had told everybody. But there were no crowds of people waiting to enter. Around 10 o’clock, an elderly lady came in. I was very nervous and didn’t know what to say! Frank came to the rescue and asked what she was looking for. “Do you know when the watchmaker next door opens?” Frank answered her question and almost begged her to buy something as the first customer in the shop, at a negotiable price. The lady seemed slightly overwhelmed. In the end, she bought some dutch cookies, never to return.

The Beginning Of A Daily Routine

In 1998, the life of a shop owner began for me. This sounds like “…and they lived happily ever after”. But now, questions started to pop up: How do I find the liquorice lovers of the city, and how do they find me? How do I price the goods, especially in the beginning? How do I develop a high-quality range of products? What does an online shop look like? What does the tax office want from me? And how do I organize my work? kadó have already attended the Winterfeldtplatz market on Saturdays for a year and has been building its reputation among liquorice lovers there. In September, we started opening the shop on Saturdays until 2pm – so it was time to hire an assistant.

kadó Goes Online

In 1998, we started our website including an online shop. I remember heated discussions with godz and Dirk about whether people would ever trust an online shop and order food without seeing or tasting it before.

kadó´s first media

listen to the post

kadó started to spark the interest of the media as well. Luckily, I was on a roll as a guest on Volker Wieprecht’s Radio Show (Radio Eins 1999, “Shoppen & Stricken”). “Zitty” and “Tagesspiegel” also discovered our shop and told Berlin city about us, as did the RBB with a TV report. We didn’t have money to spend on advertising, so we had to work on reputation alone.

The 5- Year- Mark

In 2002, we completed our first, important 5 years in business. In addition to the weekly Winterfeldt markets, we attended the weekly market at Kollwitzplatz (from 2000) and hired another assistant for this. And suddenly you are somebody’s boss. There are some experiences from being employed myself, that I wanted to be sure not to copy. However, your point of view changes when you are responsible for EVERYTHING.

One of our new assistants took the product and price guides home to study. These guides inspired her friend, a professional musician, to create a soundtrack for our liquorice range (R. Koch – trumpet, Christian Reiner – vocals). Listen to this crazy piece here: kadó hören..

kadó Liquorice Cars

Throughout the years, we drove some privately owned old Volvos that we used for our Saturday work at the markets. One market sales kit consists of around 6-7 boxes, plus the scales and the stall. Once we had dropped off the kit at Winterfeldtmarket, we had to drive back to the warehouse and get the next kit for Kollwitzmarkt. This was a very time-consuming process that we had done for years.

But then, we got our first company car which we lovingly called “the brick”, fuelled with natural gas. It had room for exactly three market kits so we could deliver them to the markets in one go. That was useful, because in 2005 kadó started selling on Hackescher Markt as well

kadó Takes On Sponsorship For Liquorice At The Botanic Gardens Of Berlin

In the Botanic Gardens of Berlin, kadó took on sponsorship of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra. We formally received the certificate by Prof. Zimmer.

First own Liquorice-Recipe with Ginger

One late night at a friends birthday party, I was offered a glass of ginger liqueur and wow, what a fiery ginger flavor! At the time we were working on our own first ginger liquorice, but had not yet found the right ginger flavor, which could withstand the strong aroma of liquorice.
And after have had tried this ginger liqueur: who could create something this fine? Answer was the Prussian Spirits Manufactory in Berlin, shortly PSM. And so we headed to Wedding.

Mr. Schroff from Schroff&Stahl GbR, a distiller of the house showed me ''his'' world. A laboratory with an atmosphere of knowledge and handicraft. The 140-year-old working tools and copper kettles are very impressive, each screw hand turned, every bell jar handblown. Some spirits needs to be aged in oak barrels to get that certain nuance, like for example whiskey, here simply called grain. Next to this, stoneware barrels are lined up, filled with spirits to be preserved, like gin for example. These methods of working and equipment are still used today and great value is put on quality. Both requires a high standard workmanship.

And here is where the ginger aroma is produced. Ginger root with its fiery taste is imported from China and delivered in large bags at the laboratory. The roots are cut into small pieces and thereafter grinded to expose the fibers. To extract the aroma, the fibers are left to rest for 4 weeks in an alcohol solution and with this process the ginger infusion is made. At this stage it looks dull and is therefor then naturally filtered by a tonic. Now it is done and ready to use, a clear, fiery, ginger extract.

Now the kadó part of the job begins. I travelled elsewhere in Germany with the ginger extract to a food technologist and where I spent 3 days of liquorice cooking. So much fun! Suddenly I was the the ship's cook and was aloud to assist. About 2 kilos of liquorice paste was made, which was then portioned and differently flavored. Every step was listed in detail and carefully weighed, but the tweezers for milligram quantities is not for rough hands to be handled. One little mistake and the batch is over salted, or as in this case, way to fiery and strong. Not approved and straight in the garbage it goes! Assisting ship's cook was disqualified and the boss had to complete the process alone, while sometimes mentioning quietly that everything costs of goods sold, time and money. The hot liquorice is quickly poured into prepared starch trays, before it cools down. Now the liquorice must rest 1-2 days before being sprinkled with sugar as the last step.

Here you can see each and every step in the process of making our ginger liquorice. The final product - handmade ginger liquorice.

With the introduction of a new liquorice into the kadó assortment, larger quantities were needed. We searched for a suitable liquorice confectioner and found the perfect one in Belgium. This family business in 4th generation produces their own liquorice recipes – and since 2006 also the kadó ginger liquorice.

kadó Celebrates Its 10 Year Anniversary

One day, a customer came in and told us that upon asking for Danish liquorice at the KaDeWe, he was sent straight to kadó. This referral meant a lot to me – it meant that we were established! For 10 years, kadó has been showing the variety of European liquorice and making liquorice lovers mouths water.

As the first specialist shop in Germany with such an extensive liquorice range, the media became interested in us. We made the news because we only offer liquorice and – no, our 400+ varieties from Iceland down to Sicily don’t all taste the same! They even reflect the cultural preferences of Europe in their tastes. Furthermore, kadó was one of the first retail shops with an online shop in these days. We worked with media students for their dissertations and were interviewed by the public media channels.

Moving To The Other Side Of Graefestrasse

After 10 years at Graefestrasse 75, our shop became too small. While kadó had started with around 60 types of liquorice in 1996, only 11 years later our range had developed to over 400 different types from Iceland down to Sicily. We were lucky – a shop across the road became available and we decided to move across to Graefestrasse 20.

The new shop was bigger, but still had a dividing wall through the shop floor. We needed more space, so we had to change the shop interior. By rearranging, we were able to improve some of our processes too.

Moving itself was easy – we didn’t even need a moving van! On Saturday we worked at No. 75 until closing time, then disassembled the furniture etc. and carried it across to No. 20. Friends and “kadó-letten” as we call our staff members, helped us move and after the weekend, we opened the shop on Tuesday at 9.30 in the new location.

kadó Takes On An Apprentice

After working mainly with part time student workers, we took on our first apprentice in 2008. After finishing her course to become a professional retail saleswoman, she joined the kadó management team.

Liquorice from the North

The majority of our range comes from European countries. The EU makes it easy to buy liquorice across borders – which is not the case for Iceland though. It was my ambition to have even the most northern types of liquorice in my range, which is a time-consuming and expensive process, because Iceland is not an EU country.

First of all, I had to convince the companies to sell liquorice to Berlin because they had never exported before. This was the same for some other countries, so I knew this already. However, it took a long time to collect all customs documents that have to accompany the shipping. Finally, after a 3-day long sea cruise, it arrived from Reykjavik into Hamburg and I drove to the Hamburg Port to declare the goods at the customs office.

A Little Book About Liquorice

Great cinema in our everyday liquorice life, because "Lakritz - die schwarze Leidenschaft" was presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair, a 64-page joint work by author Klaus-Dieter Kreische, kadó and the Thorbecke publishing house.

We wanted to pursue some questions that we are often asked when working with the black gold: why does liquorice have a black colour? What is it about the bear droppings? Is ammonium chloride also liquorice? So the idea was born to tell amusing and interesting facts about licorice in a small (gift) book.

The first research trip led to England. There we listened to the legendary stories about the creation of the first sweet licorice recipe worldwide, the Pontefract Cakes! The research led us to the South of France along the Silk Road, which for a long time was also a Liquorice Road. At Amarelli in southern Italy we were able to observe the cooking process of how liquorice is made from sweetwood (liquorice roots). A family owned museum tells about the history of the company since 1731. Germany also has its liquorice history and so it became a nice little book about the black passion we "kadó-letten" fell for.

Maike Koch tested the recipes and Ilse Böge created the 32 pictures. Together with Dirk Soboll, interior designer and photographer, the photos were taken. A real liquorice shooting including construction, light and a pleasing shine with a little olive oil...

Service At kadó

By now, kadó is very well known by liquorice lovers. Patrons that have been with us since the beginning are continuing to buy from us and we try to offer them exciting new flavours every now and again. We rarely hear anybody say “You either like it or you don’t” in our shop. All our staff members are liquorice lovers too, and can find the perfect flavours for each customer.

Cinnamon Liquorice - A new addition to the kadó range

After a few days of cooking, the new recipe for a cinnamon –flaovoured liquorice was ready. Fluffy it had to be, and with a nice, fresh cinnamon taste. Also, the relation of liquorice to cinnamon, the texture, and the right mixture had tob e found, right down to the granularity of the sugar sprinkles. Finally, the template for the casting mould had to be developed. All of this was done manually in a laboratory specialising in food, which turned into a liquorice kitchen on a regular basis. Now, we are able to present to all liquorice lovers our very own kadó Cinnamon Liquorice – on their own or in a snazzy black tin.

The GDR liquorice stick

Here at kadó, we often get asked: Do those liquorice sticks from East Germany still exist? Hard and chewy they were, rough and tangy. Approx. 10cm in length, wrapped in paper, black and delicious! Hm – a case for kadó!

We researched the federal archives and found first clues about the confectionary combinations in the GDR:

In 1898, Oswald Stengel founded a Gingerbread- and Chocolate Factory in Wilkau-Haßlau, Saxonia. With the emergence of the GDR, his son “sold” the factory to the county of Saxonia and the factory was restructured and declared the “Publicly Owned Factory for Confectionary Wesa”.

On the 16.11.1973, the new director asked for permission to conduct “complex restructure of the liquorice and gelatine production, including the improvement of working and living conditions” to the council of Karl-Marx-Stadt. The ministry of Industry and Food Production in Berlin approved of this and this special liquorice stick was the first item to be produced in this newly restructured factory. However, it was only meant as a temporary product, to practice for the production of proper liquorice confectionary. So only a single generation of people in the GDR were able to enjoy these special liquorice sticks. In 1974, production ended and the recipe has been lost ever since. We are sorry!

Liquorice Research in Finland

Even though I thought I knew a great deal about liquorice already, there are always new things that surprise me. In 2003, our search for new flavours led us to Scandinavia. The Nordic recipes are a little more creative: Banana-Lemon liquorice – who thinks of this combination! But it really goes well together and tastes very good. As do little liquorice rolls with a salty raspberry filling. Filidutter, salta hallon, Spunk Gajol… Everything was a new taste and a new word for me. As teenagers, we often drove or sailed to Holland to buy a bag of DZ, doubly salted liquorice. Because of the high salt content, everything is required to be specially labeled in Germany that has an ammonium/salt content of 2.99 – 7.99%. In Scandinavia, the people seem to need this content to live!

kadó is turning 18

"Who turned the clock", have seriously been 18 years in black business life? A little emotion creeps around my heart when I think of the beginnings in the markets, in the store, the joy of design, but also the pressure to exist: "Liquorice shop!? Take tea with you in the assortment. Or children's clothing. At least chocolate. " Since then, Berlin and the republic have been looking blacker, we've found our customers. A refreshing cheer for the liquorice lovers, who try every weird variety first, are open to European "normalities" in the liquorice taste.
For our 18th anniverary, we offered our liquorice customers a prize for the competition: who dares to write a poem? And were surprised.
Heart-refreshing and skillful! Read the 3 award-winning liquorice poems here.

This is a good opportunity to thank the invisible worker bees who support kadó. Anja Bischoff helps with web communication with words and deeds. Her agency Interfacies brings e.g. the photo gallery for the ginger liquorice on www.kado.de in an appealing form. Marcel Hicking is the technology man behind the websites at obengelb GmbH, he programs the extra requests and ensures web security. Dirk Soboll, architect and photographer, designed the shop furnishings, which we have been working with smoothly every day for 18 years! He is at our side with all ideas and extensions. Caroline Gärtner designed the kadó box for the ginger liquorice and made the templates for stationery, etc. for the Bloch & Co printing company from Kreuzberg.

Our colleague Johanna Melin and the goddaughter, who lives in England, help translate the kadó website into English. Jennifer Endom gives tips on the photos and takes the black Klömpjes in front of the lens herself when things have to be good, for example when presenting kadó in the KaDeWe. A warm, black thank you to all of you for your cooperation!

Radio show live on RadioEins

Britta Steffenhagen likes liquorice and is at home in the same neighbourhood as kadó. See you around, at kadó and elsewhere. She is well known in Berlin as a dubbing artist and actress. One day she approached us to say that a radio show was planned at Heimathafen Neukölln. Everything that happens is said and played live on stage, moderation, music band, news, traffic radio... simply everything, the whole programme with live guests anyway. And the adverts too. Wouldn't kadó be interested?
Normally we don't advertise, if only for cost reasons. And because we value real reputation, so satisfied customers come back to us when the opportunity arises. Old fashion, I know. The radio show is also old fashioned, so we can make an exception...
And that's how it happened. Britta was on top form as an entertainer, greeted the cheering crowd of guests in an elegant gown and the show took its course in an entertaining, funny and amusing way for the guests in the hall and at home in front of the radio. The audience commented on the news, applauded, booed and laughed. And in the middle of it all, as always, there were adverts for all sorts of things. And uniquely for liquorice from kadó, click here. A radio show like this is an all-round amusing evening, absolutely recommendable!

kadó in KaDeWe

The design of our jewellery box is inspired by the visible part of the liquorice plant and comes in black and white. It is classic, chic and the long base of the box sits comfortably in the hand when you put it on. Hm... could this piece of jewellery stand on its own? The outcome of this question was depending on its surroundings. Let's ask in the 6th floor of KaDeWe…

This ended up with kadó being invited to hold a presentation, and as good as it sometimes get, it all came together like pot and lid. In KaDeWe great value is put into regional references, to that licorice is–after 18 years!–simply a bit trendy. With the wide range of products, from Iceland all the way to Sicily, that kadó had to offer, expertise included, it was just right. For kadó this adress is a nice emphasis of that to which is of much importance to us in our daily shop: quality, variety and a clientele that appreciates good service. And with this, dear customer, you will find licorice as usual in Kreuzberg but also in the confectionery department of KaDeWe.

The kadó jewellery boxes are filled with our house mixtures: sweet mild liquorice, salty liquorice or a mixture of both, the kadó mixture. The design bags contain a delicious marble mix of chocolate-liquorice marbels, the Berlin Mix with sweet & sour liquorice and Meer Mix with extra salty liquorice. Our own recipes, liquorice with ginger as well as liquorice with sea salt can be found in the handy decorative tins.

We look back fondly on 9 years of smooth, professional collaboration with the staff on the 6th floor. In January 2024, KaDeWe filed for insolvency and we have since stopped supplying liquorice.

The Bamberger Liquorice Root Society

In the Middle Ages, liquorice root, the main ingredient for making liquorice, was cultivated in Bamberg. Fields of liquorice surrounded the Bamberg Cathedral, as seen on the farmers map from year 1500. The root was beside honey a popular sweetener and an important economic asset of the region, exported for example as far as to Venice. The farmer had to reap the liquorice strand unscathed, which requires a lot of manual work still today. This, since liquorice is a tap-rooted plant and the roots first dig vertically into the ground and then starts to branch off.

Painted pictures of liquorice decorate the ceiling in the Bamberg Cathedral and also the coat of arms of the city. The trade with liquorice altered since Italy, Spain, France and Iraq could get greater liquorice crops and offer better prices thanks to the advantageous climate in their countries. Cultivating liquorice in Bamberg came to an end and from now on the knowledge was only to be read and found in books.

One day in 2010, members of the ''Garden City Bamberg'' found their way back to their roots and founded the Bamberg Liquorice Company with the ambitious goal to start cultivating the long lost root again. Read all about how it all happened and what came to follow in this article "Bamberger Süßholz". kadó is a member of the Liquorice Society and therefor in title of being able to purchase some of the harvested glycyrrhiza. In this pretty little package you will find–after an about 500 years long slumber–the first Bamberger glycyrrhiza, available at kadó.

All good things come in threes

- and the third licorice sort of the house is here! Made exclusively with gum arabic, and therefor firm and chewy, kado's first own salty licorice comes in the shape of a starfish. Quite a match if we may say so!
This is the first salty licorice to be made in the belgian manufactory and I think I dare to claim that the licorice maestro resisted putting salt to the licorice for at least 10 years. ''Salt will destroy the great taste, Mrs Böge.'' Yes, I know what you mean. But sometimes a pinch of salt can help to enhance the aromas, Monsieur. Could we maybe try just once,…please?

And since we have been cooperating for suuuch a long time–keyword: Gingerlicorice–the constant encouragement from Berlin actually and finally payed off (or maybe he just wanted to be left in peace) it lead in the end to some sample cooking, see photo. With the result that now, both parties are very happy with this newcomer.

Christmas everywhere

In times of internet, a licorice order per post is more rare than usual, but they still do occur. One day a carefully handwritten letter appeared in our post box. I was asked to put together “a nice licorice selection of 5 kilos“, something of which the sender “was immensely looking forward to after a long time of preparation“, bill included. A bit over the top maybe, but quite nice in its way.The order document was of more official character and handled the formalities required for the shipment. Given sender, which was also the receiving customer, was set to: JVA Tegel / Tegel Prison Berlin.

This licorice order was the one and only annually approved shipment of goods that the intern was allowed to bring or ship no matter of content, may it be books, clothes or cigarettes. So, this time it was all about licorice. The sender had used his precious weekly and limited computer time, accompanied by a prison guard, to go through the kadó webpage and finally send off his wishes, in which he finally gave me the complete freedom of choice. Christmas surprise!

I was touched. And challenged. I went through our whole assortment in the store while continuously checking the weight. Deed of honor, the package was not allowed to exceed 4999 grams. Our small booklet “schwarze Leidenschaft“ was given for free, this was most likely a dedicated reader. Each and every product was carefully declared by amount and description in the document attached, since any deviation would be confiscated.
Off and away with the post. A couple of weeks later a postcard with kind regards from the Tegel Prison Berlin landed in our post box.

Goodbye Markets

On June 24th 2017 a circle closed in kadó: since 20 years this is our last day representing and offering our selection of licorice at the weekend markets. After 1000 Saturdays at the Winterfeldt Market, 850 at Kollwitzplatz (add to that 520 Saturdays at the Hackeschen Market until 2015), it’s time for us to say goodbye! We are not getting any younger...

From the depth of our heart we would like to thank all licorice monsters out there, whom regardless wheather conditions, stepped out the door to go find us. A weekend without licorice? Not likely. That’s why, dear licorice friends, we are more than happy to welcome you all to pay us a visit in our very own specialist licorice shop in Graefestrasse 20, saturdays from 9:30 to 15:30.

And please don’t forget: on 19.9.2017 kadó is turning 20! We would be delighted to see you again then at the latest!
Sincerly black regards, Ilse Böge & Frank Büttner

kadó is shooting a cinema spot

kado-liquorice buy better than steal — Cracklefree kado liquorice - buy better than steal

... to the 20th anniversary of kadó.
Many thanks to all big and small liquorice monsters for their loyalty, for the desire for black drops including time for the nice chats. Thanks to the art house cinemas that sell kadó liquorice at their counters. How about supporting these mostly smaller cinemas with an advertising clip? Said and done, with the help from Giulia, our well connected former colleague, we were able to get the right people together right on time. First up was Tobi, the artist, maybe you know his performance ''Leo'' in the Chamäleon Theatre? It's wonderful! Hm, I wonder if it would be possible to win him over to play the main role? Hypocritical I asked him what he thought about liquorice … And later, if he could imagine to take part in a movie spot about liquorice for the cinemas? He sure could, BINGO.

Millian was to be our music man, this was clear already from the beginning of the project. The only difficulty was, the man has a fully booked calendar and is constantly on tour. Luckily we were able to find a gap. With Millian, Paul and Nick came along for direction and animation, Martin took care of camera, Jakob ran the light and Benjamin was assisting camera. Pepa, a soon to be film director and licorice expert at kadó, offered her support, Frank threw the catering and I ended up as runner and ''maid of all work'' taking care of everything between coffemaking and putting the props in the right spot. Team was complete.

One late night sitting at the bon fire in the country side with my friend Karin, I shared my ideas about doing a movie spot. She instantly took the bait and filled with enthusiasm she started to elaborate thoughts and possibilities in the most colorful ways. It was such a fun evening! The very next morning I put our ''script'' on paper and received the first reaction: ''Well, ahum… do you really find that funny?'' … try to explain a joke to somebody, exactly, it's impossible. Second reaction: ''… haha, super, I'd be up for that! But: too long=too expensive, we have to shorten it down.'' Well, said and done, we shortened it, a storyboard was drawn, props collected, technical equipment rented and we considered what kind of costume Tobi should wear. Meanwhile I decorated the display window, to have it prober for this "television".

Saturday after closing hours technical rentals was delivered. Suddenly the shop felt quite small. ''Would it be possible to remove the deco, we need space for the light set up.'' Ahum … but … yes of course, no problem. The window was completely covered with black velvet, shady light inside and full on summer outside. ''Coffee anybody?'' 19 settings was to be filmed and it took us 17 hours all in all. Tobi did great and added to that it was his first time as main actor in front of a camera. Paul knew exactly what kind of pictures he wanted. Time ran extremely fast, Martin was non stop on camera, Pepa was all over the place wherever a hand was needed. The assistant and I were crawling and squeezing through the shop between lamps and devices. Scene by scene we were moving ahead. Around midnight Frank awaited us with cold drinks, and with that, new instructions from the director: ''We're about to film the last scene. Outside view, please decorate the display window again.'' Ouff … ouch, ouch … 1.00 o'clock at night, quickly done, right?

Later on it was time for the expression ''it's a wrap'' and we could finally relax, all exhausted but also very happy. I was so impressed by the professionalism of this film crew. I never could have imagined how complicated it is to create just 30 seconds of film. What an accurate and tight work flow, no kidding, all managed in not more than 17 hours – wow!

For assistants and Tobi work was done by now. Paul, Martin, Nick and Millian on the other hand, were up for work part number two. Raw material had to be examined, cut, animated, music and audio to be added to the pictures. Like this, or maybe better like this?

Somewhere in a backyard in Berlin I'm back in the dark sitting in front of a computer, observing the guys by the cutting process. With time pressure and decisions having to be made … it's suddenly – done! On 19th September 2017 the spot was shown in the fsk cinema for the very first time, 30 seconds world premiere so to say.

And ... got curious? Here it is ... on a small screen.
On a big screen our kadó cinema spot runs on and off in these Berlin cinemas: Delphi, fsk, filmkunst 66, Hackesche Hoefekino, Sputnik and in all Yorck-Kinos. The cinemas and kadó cordially invite you to enjoy crackling-free Liquorice to the film.

Tobias Wegener: Artist
Paul Weiss: Storyboard and Director
 Martin Gasch: Head of Camera
Jakob: Light technician  
Benjamin Glischka: Assisting camera 
Nick Jezierski: Storyboard and Animation 
Milian Vogel: Composer and Music (Richard Koch: Trumpet) 
Pepa Kistner: Assisting director
 Ilse Böge: Idea (together with Karin Laubenstein) and execution
 Frank Büttner: Catering

Amarelli for kadó

Happy to experience 20 years anniversary as a specialized licorice store, we let the good times with the opening of the store and until today and its constant progress pass (in review) before our very eyes … and see, the italian licorice producer Amarelli, established already 286 years ago, makes us a generous offer, to create and produce a unique kadó licorice gift tin for our anniversary. Exclusive. By Amarelli for kadó.

Wonder if they still have any photos from their establishing days back in year 1731? Amarelli as the oldest licorice blacksmith in the world, and still a proud family property, impressive. Situated in Rossano, Calabria, at the Ionian See, they cultivate the licorice root and traditionally process it into licorice. Basta. Amarelli produces the very best pure and natural licorice, aromatized with aniseed, violet, lemon or sugar coated with mint. True quality and with herb authentic flavours.
A visit in the museum nearby is a real delight and a must for all licorice fans.

With honor and joy we are pleased to treat our regulars with this pretty tin, filled with the finest pure licorice.
Twenty years ago we got to know Baron Amarelli and since then we have kept the herb licorice as a main product in our sortiment, a flavour which slowly had to grow upon the german customers, not yet used to this pure and intense tasting kind.

Antiques treasures

My husband Frank is a collector. His soft spot for beautiful old tins regularly leads us the way to flea markets, no matter in what country we might be. Quietly I observe the procedure over my cup of tea. During the first couple of days after arrival, the daily paper is bought and he begins to read with devotion- in English, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Icelandic- all pages from the very beginning with the politics, to the very end, with sports and the general. Frank is no particular genius when it comes to language, but subsequently there is a plan for the day, which mostly means a visit at the local flea market. We keep our eyes open to this and that, but especially we look for small old licorice tins and containers. Until in the fifties the recommended usage of the black pastille, preferably with salmiak or menthol, was communicated and printed onto the tin: for the sportsman, the smoker and the talkative person! Some opens with a sliding lid and some lets the small black pills out portion wise in the hand by pressing a little lever. Kadó has quite a little collection by now with each tin telling its own story of the past times it used to belong to.

During the last 20 years kadó has come to collected not only lovely little tins but also managed to build a net of stabile suppliers from all over Europe. And with times changing and research trips in person becoming more of a rare activity, these three little treasures were won through online auctions instead.

kadó-Display window

Our window display often gets admired. And since we have so much fun decorating, there’s something new to see every 6-8 weeks. Just the liquorice itself, with its black colour, inspires to a clean black and white design. All the various and colorful liquorice tins from all over Europe also enriches the optic in a eye-catching way. In summer our window transforms into a coastal landscape full of light houses and boats from all the different liquorice countries, the reason for this is also because the liquorice really can’t cope with the warm temperatures …

In winter we made a gingerbread house with a moose forest and a frozen lake, which we brought to life with little liquorice figures. We once even baked the TV-tower! With built-in light! Sometimes we create something more of a jeweler’s window, where precious liquorice jewelry is displayed on red velvet. We’ve had friendly liquorice robots at work too. It does come quite in handy having a colleague studying stage design …
Anyways: grown up liquorice fans stop by to have a look, the younger liquorice monsters come by to solve a task for the scavenger hunt. For some liquorice just stays eternally inexplicable.

What´s up?

In this digital era of our times, attention has turned out to be a currency of its own. It surrounds our up until now classic standpoint, where we have let the licorice take first place and not the people or buzz around it. Hmm, should we follow and spread the word in a more up to date-way and tell, for example, about that time when that well known police inspector from tv came by to buy his favorite licorice? Or when kadó was used as location while interviewing that young fashion designer, as well as for that actress in a new tv-series? Or when that popular chef is chit chatting about licorice powder and that musician buys licorice for himself and his whole crew before going on world tour? That a hip DJ and a politician may also be counted in as regulars?

There are many different ways to look at it, among which many has become ambivalent, but, in the end each and everyone can (or has to?) take their own decision. It probably also doesn’t hurt to think twice about one’s old point of views. Or with a freshened up mind, to hold on to them for that matter. But "new by now": welcome to follow kadó on instagram.

Lunchtime at kadó

In the summertime, customers strolling by the shop always give a curious glance at our plates. „What’s for lunch? Was that cooked with licorice?“
So long as the weather allows, we bring out a table and some chairs so that we can take a break and eat lunch together in front of the store. At kadó there’s not only a working schedule but also a cooking plan as well, and each of the employees take turns preparing a small lunch for their colleagues, knowing that on other days the favor will be returned. It’s a fun opportunity to share and try out a wide variety of recipes.

One coworker, after studying in Japan, brought miso soup to the table. One younger coworker, in his first job knew exactly two pasta recipes, which he artfully varied for us. Each new day brings new Swedish, Italian, French, American, Serbian, Danish and German recipes and ideas, and there’s always something to satisfy every palette, from the more traditional to the vegan. The woman in charge remembers her dishes from Friesland with potatoes and Frank cooks from nearly nothing something tasty. But all without licorice. This we reserve for our liquorice recipes.

Cooking with liquorice

... is really not such a big deal, and is surprisingly tasty. Confettura di Liquirizia, an apple-licorice chutney, lends itself quite nicely to this use. It goes wonderfully with mozzarella and tomatoes, variety of cheeses, and in salad dressing. It makes a good dip for vegetables and nearly everything it seems.

For more advanced cooks, incorporating liquorice powder in recipes can make things very interesting: liquorice pasta with prosciutto and leeks, chicken or celery schnitzel with liquorice breading goes wonderfully with vegetables and rice.

Liquorice aroma gives that extra something, for example in soup, marmalade, or in deserts like Panna Cotta, Chocolate mousse with raspberries. Liquorice is an excellent flavor to experiment with. Our liquorice cooking box contains the necessary liquorice ingredients including 2 recipes with instructions. Try one of our liquorice recipes. Be sure, it will be unusually tasty.

Mishaps

With a little inspiration by Lotta from Stockholm we began to arrange tastings in kadó.
We held the first events together, but with her having to travel back and forth each and every time, it turned out we would have to go on on our own. The 11th edition was up, this time the three of us without Lotta, ups and downs included.
Maike Koch took over the cooking part, Frank and I were to guide our guests through the evening along with our licorice lecture. A pleasant, amusing, black evening.
That’s was it was supposed to be ...

Looking back I realize we’ve grown over the years with each mishap and every nervous second of fear that came our way. An unforgettable moment, as the fish was slowly cooking in the owen, the first guests were just about to come through the door and – electricity goes out. Owen, light, beamer – we switched on the nob for the fuse, nothing. Oh no, troubleshooting, now?? Ehum, how was it now with the electricity, how to do this, oh please, overload, getting nervous: my gut instinct tells me this is really not good at all, this is probably it for tonight. „Calm down!“ head says, have to take a step back and clear my thoughts, now.

Luckily our friend and interior designer from Krefeld heard our call and explained over phone from afar how to handle the electricity system in the shop. With the phone pressed to my ear and a candle in the hand, seeming to have gone through all critical points, kneel down and see! it was the refrigerator, with which we until now never ever had had any problems at all. Phew, stress slowly went off. I quickly straightened my skirt and the light in the shop literally went on in the same minute as it was time to greet the first guests.
„Welcome to our black evening in kadó“ – if they only knew …

In 2021, the rent shark came along, bought the property and then drastically increased our rent. In short words: he smashed our cost calculation. So kadó moved into the former storage and offers the same well-known variety of liquorice online at Graefestrasse 68. URL address, see above, remember? Just saved our business concept.
Unfortunately, the tasting evenings are passé now.

Like grandma, but the other way around

Every now and then we take on interns from school around the corner. Mostly it is 9th graders, school teenagers around 14, 15 years old. Obviously they have never had a job before and are confronted for the first time in their life with work related procedures and time frames. Minor tasks are explained and shown how to go about, after that the intern is aloud to go at it and invest as much time as he or she needs until the outcome is correct.

After about 14 days they might have to pop over to our storage, a pallet with licorice from somewhere in Europe needs to be unpacked and systematically stowed away; they have weighed and packed online shop orders and put together our hand made licorice gift bags; cleaning here and there and keeping the in shop storage neat and tidy, also helping out with preparing our licorice subscriptions and running small errands.
It does surprise them to see what a diverse handicraft it takes to keep the shop running and also how many employees that are needed per day to handle it all, that the licorice sorts all have their own name and – tasting aloud – they all actually taste different.

At kadó they have to weigh the licorice and calculate the price in the head, rule of three included, which once resulted in weeping due to frustration. All in all and in the best case they have gotten an idea of working hours and procedures after finishing their internship, also and nevertheless through the special task of preparing one of our joint lunches. As a finish there is a big bag of licorice and a small contribution to be had for a work well done.
Once, we were told later on, a grandma to one of our interns was so very happy – and surprised – to receive a package of licorice sent just in time for her birthday. But since when did her grandson start sending cash along? It used to be the other way around didn’t it?

Surprise visit

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas, a young woman snowed in at kadó, followed by a young man with the camera running. "We'd like to talk to you about liquorice," she said, holding out the mic to me. From the Today Show it dawned on me that Hazel Brugger is here live and in colour and that she is working for her blog "Germany what's up?" (DWG) in the liquorice shop looking for oddities.
It started adventurous, she would still like liquorice as a Swiss and would be open to 3 tastings. Well, you could have that, I thought, and looked for 2 popular liquorice and 1 with a strange taste, no problem with 500 different variaties. Hazel smacked bravely, sipped iron liquorice liqueurs and commented, one word yielded the other - it was very funny. I can't really tell, you have to see: Hazel at kadó. Episode 3 is just the beginning of very funny further episodes from the Republic.

Jo, nice visit and it goes on in normal life. Christmas sales, public holidays, New Year's Eve, January - and plop. Why is there suddenly something going on in the shop and online in sleepy January? No idea. Until the happy email of Thomas Spitzer arrived that they had now activated the plot on YouTube and there were already funny comments, e.g. whether I am Hazel's mother and that anise is by no means botanically related to liquorice, etc. Haha, and the penny falls: now sniffing at the scene! Funny conversations with Hazel's followers included, very nice.

At the end of the year it was also very nice to be invited to Cologne's Hazel and Thomas studio for a kind of "Best of" in the first year of their DWG blog. And the kadó plot is one of them. The morning after the kadó Christmas party I went early to the train to Cologne, 4 hours later I was in the studio. And didn't really get my teeth apart. Yes, no, um. Completely in the other mode, chilled by the calm and beautiful foggy train ride, I was now relaxed and rather monosyllabic in the interview. Murks! And who doesn't know it, on the way back I naturally came up with the right answers and so I amused myself alone with unspoken word duels with Hazel. Anyway, the idea of a Hazel liquorice mix somehow got stuck in the air, Hazel picked it and made something of it ...

The wonderful Hazel... Liquorice mix

The Hazelmix - glutenfree liquorice from kadó

This time Hazel Brugger and I had an appointment at kadó. She had the idea of a hazel-liquorice mix and wanted to find out what´s possible. For reinforcement she brought along Jasna Fritzi Bauer, the new commissioner in the Bremen crime scene team "Tatort". Jasna hates liquorice "if I only smell it". The more enjoyable Hazel rummaged through our liquorice range. She pointed out interesting liquorice varieties, I looked at the list of ingredients, because the mix had to be gluten-free. There was a lot of fooling around again and Thomas Spitzer recorded everything in picture and sound. The result was a liquorice mix with her personal favourites: gluten-free, chic and delicious - the Hazelmix.
Finally, we dared roasted crickets, which you can poke in liquorice powder before eating. But they remain insects that feel like a test of courage to eat. Funnily enough, Jasna was unstoppable here, "really tasty this guys", and was undaunted, a really tough Ms inspector.

The first spontaneous visit of the Swiss cabaret artist to kadó was already highly amusing. Eloquent Hazel meets finnish Terva Teufelchen. If you want to see episode #3 of her blog "Deutschland Was Geht (DWG) ?" again, click here. Have fun and Lakrüetzi mitenand!

Joyful things in strange times

It is very special that a virus is making people all over the world change their behaviour and practice social distancing. You hear the daily numbers and measures and try to orientate yourself. What can I do for my employees and customers in the liquorice shop? How long we will have to deal with the restrictions? Do I now calculate through all the variations of the head cinema or is it more of a nerve exercise of staying calm in the here and now? 

Nevertheless, something pleasant is happening. For example, when the older Berlin couple from the neighbourhood have been passing the shop for years with a friendly greeting and now suddenly walk in. Yes, liquorice, hm, hadn't been their thing so far, no, but maybe they don't know enough, they thought. Could I mix a nice blend for them? They would like to try liquorice again. Lovely. No sooner said than done. And now we see them regularly, the favourite liquorice is ordered because "this is really delicious" and whispering afterwards "since then it works better with my digestion".  
Very pleasing also this: a Norwegian orders liquorice online and writes that our shop inspired him to a song "Kadó". And since he is also a musician and plays in a jazz band, you can also hear the song on the LP "Skulekorps". I love jazz, just beautiful... what liquorice is not all good for - Jakritzzzz, let's flow!

Happy Birthday in times of Corona

...feels muted. 23 years of kadó. The first ever liquorice shop in Germany, founded in 1997. Well, a long time ago and very close again. So far, we have celebrated our anniversaries with friends, staff and customers. There's no chance of that in this Corona year. Strange how normality shifts and also that the pandemic affects people so differently. Pure luck that kadó was able to stay open the whole time and was working on the relaunch of the website anyway. kado.de has been online since 1998 and sends liquorice all over the world. Who would have thought that this shopping option would one day play such a leading role?
A fortuitous decision was also the opening of the liquorice shop in Graefestrasse. In 1997, a sleepy residential street with few shops and pubs, some of which moved to the eastern part of the city after the fall of the Wall. Kreuzberg was suddenly out and landlords were happy to have commercial tenants. Together with the neighbourhood house, we drew the attention of tradespeople in the Graefekiez to the vacancies during a colourful neighbourhood walk. This has changed thoroughly in the last 10 years. At the moment our shop is scaffolded again, this time the roof truss has found an heir.

Well, where was I? kadó-birthday in Corona times. We kadó-lettes finally celebrated with a boat trip in a small circle, escaped in bright sunshine, with music and finger food. A day off from everything, relaxed on the Spree. A piece of birthday cake, Raspberry cake with liquorice cream did the rest.
Aloha, greetings dear liquorice friends from near and far, stay healthy and cheerful.
See you all again soon!

kadó Birthday cake Raspberry-liquorice-cream

Find kadó liquorice at KaDeWe

Unfortunately, currently you cannot purchase kadó licorice at KaDeWe.

Together with KaDeWe, kadó presents a wide range of kadó liquorice on the 6th floor. There is a choice of 30 different types of liquorice, from fruity-sweet to double-salted. The usual self-service with loose kadó liquorice varieties is no longer possible for hygienic reasons. So we are presenting a "best of kadó" for you, each weighing 100g. Speaking of bags: kadó bags all liquorice in transparent cellulose. We have completely switched our packaging to plastic-free!

Our beautiful jewelry boxes and decorative bags show the leaves of the liquorice plant from the outside. The inside is sweet and mild, fruity, gingery, salty or chocolaty - just liquorice. No way: do they all taste the same ... pfft! The variety of European flavours is also reflected in the liquorice. And kadó has succumbed to this black passion since 1997. Reglisse, Liquorice, Liquirizia, Lakritz, Lakkris ... we meet at the liquorice bar!

Our movie star

Every few years the phone rings and the customer's question is not about the taste, but about certain properties of liquorice. The questions revolve around an unnamed project, almost like a quiz. Whether liquorice would also be available in larger pieces, taste doesn't matter. For example, in bar form like thick chocolate? Whether liquorice could be poured into such a mould, heated and then poured? What would you recommend, heating in a pot or better in a water bath? What kind of liquorice is nice and crumbly?

At the latest now it dawns on me that we are researching for a film scene here and liquorice might get the supporting role if.... yes, if it could look like chewing tobacco or like a thick, rich piece of hashish. I listen to the questions and make my suggestions, eventually we meet in the shop and go through some liquorice varieties. Hm, the pirate should spit out the brown-black chewing tobacco juicily at the captain's feet, so the liquorice can't be too firm. That makes sense. And if the series is about drug dealers, the piece should look real, not too small and at the same time crumbly or cuttable. Also logical. Whether afternoon programme or evening programme, our All Star has it all: kneadable, crumbly, easy to eat, not too firm - liquorice fudge. Water bath recommended.

Berlin in slumber

We wish all liquorice customers a happy, healthy new year 2021! May it be more convivial than the last.
We thank you very much for the loyalty and support we have received. And for the beautiful mail! Hopefully kadó liquorice was able to sweeten the festive season a little for you.
The time "between the years" was even more contemplative than usual this year. "Berlin in slumber", attached some photos from our nightly walks through the city. Let's start it calm this year, on 12.1.2021 we will open our one thing liquorice shop again and spoil the customers one by one and with mask. Looking forward to it!

Tante Emma & liquorice from kadó

We look forward to working with this fresh Berlin start-up: the kadó liquorice mixture "vegan & palm oil-free" is now available exclusively from tante-emma-unterwegs.de. After 10 months, a project by the Berlin School of Economics and Law has turned into an offer for all customers who support shopping with more sustainability. For example, delivering the unpackaged goods by cargo bike. How exactly? The founders should explain that themselves, read more here ... The vegan & palm oil-free liquorice mixture from the photo is also available there.

kadó moves out and still stays in the Graefekiez

Our shop has come to a new owner. It is his fifth commercial property in Graefestrasse. Back then, when we started our business, we had planned for 5 years until we reached "break-even", the profit zone, but now they immediately tried to pass the new purchase price on to the rent. And if the existing contract is unclearly worded, we go to court with an eviction suit. Gentrification in its purest form. And kadó is defeated, everything is legal, we have to leave.

It may even be that our contract was formulated by the previous Danish owner and can be interpreted in one way or another. Unfortunately, the court did not take any soft skills into account and even pulled a third rabbit out of the hat. But it is also certain that every action is based on the human being. So the remaining term of the commercial lease cannot be waited for? Simply out of respect for the fact that kadó has helped shape the Graefekiez, that he now "brings" these rents. That we pay rent on time, even if the scaffolding is in front of the building for 12 months and a pandemic is making life difficult for customers. That kadó is an employer, pays its taxes, trains apprentices to become retailers and regularly lets school trainees take a look at everyday working life. That we have been running Germany's first liquorice shop with passion and professionalism for 24 years. That kadó is connected to the neighbourhood, including chatting with the neighbours and doing the rule of three with the kids at the scales and cash register.

So what's next?
From October 2021, we will be focusing entirely on our second mainstay: the mail-order liquorice business. In 1998, we still sent out a catalogue by post. Today, customers click their way through the variety of liquorice in our online shop at kado.de. We are still happy to take your liquorice wishes by email or telephone and send a blue packet to your home. If you like, you can order your favourite mixture and pick it up personally at our liquorice warehouse at Graefestrasse 68. kadó will continue to spoil you with liquorice. We are just taking a step back and remain with warm black greetings Your kadó-letten!

At last lunch all together

It still felt a bit forbidden. First lunch break together after Corona. Should everyone really be together, outside and without a mouth guard? Incidence in Berlin under 20... But then everything felt very relaxed and pleasant with a pinch of sun. Ah, but that's how it used to be every lunchtime before! Now you almost have to get used to socialising a bit again. Och, there are worse things - indeed!

Aloha - Goodbye & Hello

Our proverbial last interns in the rooms of our liquorice shop have freshly captured the shop atmosphere (during Covid times) from kadó. Lovis was allowed to design a short shoot completely herself, well and which topic is better than our outgoing liquorice shop, where classmate Milla is currently doing her internship? And as a camera seat was available. Here it is ... Aloha, it was nice with you!

It is true, dear friends of the good taste of liquorice. Our days with loading are numbered. Fortunately, in addition to the liquorice shop, we have also been online for 24 years and will be switching from 19.9. 2021 "only" the mainstay. We survived the Covid period well. Unfortunately, gentrification in the Kiez is less ...

Embedded Vimeo-Video

By clicking on the play button data will be transfered to Vimeo. For details please visit the provider's privacy policy

Farewell & Move

The last week in the liquorice shop is dawning and melancholy arises. In the past few weeks we have been asked often how we are doing with it. Not that bad anymore. We had time to plan and have now converted our warehouse into a nice liquorice storage. Now we are also curious whether it is also nice to work there. In addition, we stay in the neighborhood and in contact with our liquorice monsters, I hope so. It will be different, but 24 years have also passed. All liquorice will move with you, quality and service will be retained!
If you like, you have the opportunity to get hold of a souvenir a la kadó from the decoration sale or a liquorice glass with your favorite variety, dear shop customers.

I also processed my farewell from the shop with a virtual tour. Here you can still see our beautiful liquorice shop ret.. So please get in! and click everything ... have a nice trip to Deja vu. But our very special thanks go to Mila Panic for this very special farewell present, a hand-made A4 folding card from the liquorice shop ... so beautiful and ever in our mind. Greetings & kisses, Ilse and Frank!

When the shop was broom clean, we had one last glass at a performance called "liquorice expulsion" (click left to hear into) by Milian Vogel and Ketan Bhatti, both highly professional musicians in real life. We would like to thank them very much for this - a beautiful and dignified farewell ceremony to our liquorice shop.

kadó Liquorice onlineShop

The transformation from liquorice specialist shop to Liquorice Specialist onlineShop is complete. Same, same but different - that's how it feels after our move. Now the team is jerking the liquorice meme "where are the salta skallar now?" FLT - front, left, top, where all the salty sprinkles are now. Our friend and architect Dirk Soboll has also turned the warehouse into a pleasant space where we enjoy working with liquorice. Customers come by and chat when they pick up their bag, as well as when they order by phone. So we start our first month in the new liquorice home and thank our regular customers warmly for their good wishes and attentions. Let's continue with black greetings from kadó ...

Hazel´s Wimmelbuch

At the beginning of October Hazel and Thomas's Wimmelbuch was published by Diogenesverlag. The stations of her blog "Deutschland was geht" are recorded in a large format, lovingly drawn by Jannes Weber. Even if you don't know the blog, it's chuckling because the characters and the hustle and bustle on the ostrich farm, in the gym, on the beach or at the weekly market were captured in a bustling manner.
Speaking of the weekly market: there kadó is immortalized with a liquorice cart and Ilse-bilse stands casually in front of it and talking with a customer, hachz. I feel very honored and thank you so very much Hazel, Thomas and Jannes!!!

Berlinale with liquorice

For friends of film, it will be dark days and long nights again. The Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale for short, captivates cineastes worldwide. The festival has been held annually since 1951, and the competition crowns the best film with the city's Golden Bear. Hosts include the Yorck Cinema Group with its beautiful and well-preserved "International" film theatre.

For many years, kadó has been associated with these Berlin art-house cinemas; we enrich the gourmet counters with liquorice. All the mixtures are hand-picked wonder bags, "you can't see the ones in the dark" (Kalau...). These two starlets from kadó greet you freshly made up from the foyer and are waiting to be discovered. Completely wrapped in plastic-free cellophane, they offer sweets or salty treats in the new cinema liquorice design.
Yorck and kadó wish you good entertainment.

See you in the cinema - black & delicious!

25 Years kadó Liquorice

So, really 25 already?

Yep - even if it doesn't feel like it. What I can say about liquorice is that it still tastes good and it's still a beautiful product that we work on at kadó. It also still smells delicious when we open kadó in the morning and dive into the liquorice variety from Iceland to Sicily.
25 years of liquorice in the Graefekiez ...
Starting 1996 at the weekly markets in Berlin, we soon moved into our shop in Graefestrasse, which evolved into the kadó liquorice shop - the first of its kind in Germany. Our online presence followed with a webshop, not yet knowing that this would anchor kadó for the future. Because our day-to-day business has always remained the same: to search for, find and source delicious liquorice from Europe's diversity and present it to liquorice lovers in beautiful blends.
If you like, take a little trip back in time through the years since the founding of the first liquorice shop with our anniversary memorie.

The kadó-letten wish all liquorice monsters lots of fun and black luck!

The way to a womans heart goes through her stomach

For some time now, kadó has been receiving regular liquorice orders from France. We would like to bring some liquorices to Ruth from Graefestrasse. Matter of the heart. With the third package, the lady of his heart tells that she is just getting to know the culinary offer from the Graefekiez, including flower shops. Because the many attentions are ordered for her by her admirer in turn, the Internet makes it possible. Liquorice, pastries, wine, flowers. We met on vacation... oui. Now the whole neighborhood is excited to see how the two of them will continue. Very charming, huh?

Packaging at kadó

Liquorice from kadó in clear non-plastic bags

Fresh non-plastic shine at the cinema counter — Fresh non-plastic shine at the cinem

kadó is also concerned about more sustainable reusability. This is not so easy with food. Plastic packaging has become a problem because it is so durable but is only used once and then thrown away. Moreover, they would have to end up in the yellow bin in order to get back into the raw material cycle. kadó is registered in the packaging register with its sales and service packaging, because "throughout Europe, it applies to packaging that the manufacturer (as well as wholesalers and retailers) of a product also assumes product responsibility for the packaging in the sense of avoidance, reuse and recycling". That is the goal!

We pack our loose liquorice in clear cellulose bags. These Berlin cinemas with kadó liquorice at the counter also switched to plastic-free cellulose bags. Cellulose is easily recyclable. However, the bags are not as barrier-resistant as plastic, moisture can get in and out more easily. So: consume quickly, for example on a cinema visit. Or decant into a bonbonniere with a lid.

What is cellulose?

Cellulose is made from wood | wood residues, i.e. it is produced from renewable raw materials. The wood pulp (cellulose) is dissolved in caustic soda (NaOH) and carbon disulphide (CS2). This produces pure, transparent cellulose, which is mixed with glycerine. The cellulose bags can be composted in the home compost with the necessary time. For quick disposal in the city, please use -still- the yellow paper bin so that they enter the waste cycle in an environmentally friendly way.

Whether plastic or renewable raw material, both have their pros and cons. One thing is certain: the search for the best possible environmentally friendly packaging will accompany us in the future.

Learn German with liquorice

A lot of rustling outside the whispering door and focussed glances into our shop window. A group of young people apparently on the lookout...
"Can I help you?" -Yes. Do you sell liquorice?" comes back haltingly and with many variations of accent. It turns out that they are all students from Eastern Europe and South Korea who are learning German and now have to answer a questionnaire, including a walk around the neighbourhood. Clever combination, isn't it? Some of them had never even heard of liquorice, let alone tasted it. Of course, kadó couldn't let that stand. And see, a tuffy, caramelised liquorice fudge is always a nice first liquorice experience :-))
We chatted in German for a while, practised our pronunciation and finally she moved on to question 6. Adios and Lakrützi! I thought. But then it became "auf bald", because of the liquorice fudges.

Whispering door becomes a puppet stage

The idea of lining our whispering door, jokingly known as the liquorice flap, with red velvet curtains was an obvious one. Curtain up for ... yes, what? In the midst of the Christmas hustle and bustle, we spun around a bit and, lo and behold, one of our employees even had a Kaspar as a hand puppet. When Ernie and Bert were mothballed, we waited for dusk, draped the curtains and off we went. Duncan crouched under the window and let Ernie climb up, I held up the red velvet as a backdrop and Nele gave photo instructions in front of the door.

As soon as Ernie was visible in the window, the first passers-by stopped. When Bert arrived, there were giggles and big smiles outside the door. And that's how it is: the two figures or characters bring out the best in you, you just have to grin, don't you? We wish you happy holidays with and without snow.

Sadly disrespectful, WYG!

Ugh. Now kadó has also been hit. WYG shines at me from afar. Right across our beautifully designed roller shutter. An egomaniac has really taken his time to put his mark a la "I was here". Anonymous, of course...
It's not graffiti ... No art, no humour, no respect.
Just annoying. And damage to property, as a glance at the invoice from the company that spent 2 hours using chemicals to uncover our liquorice ornaments shows. Sadly disrespectful!