Royal Dansk (meaning "Royal Danish") is a Danish brand of
butter cookies, manufactured by Kelsen Group A/S.[1] It is known for its distinctive
royal blue round
tin container.[2] Since 2019, the brand is owned by Italian conglomerate
Ferrero SpA, after it acquired the Kelsen Company for $300 million.[1]
Overview
The "Royal Dansk Company" was started in 1966 in
Helsingør, Denmark.[2] In 1990 it merged with another biscuit company, Kjeldsen, whose butter cookies are particularly well known in Hong Kong and China.[2] The merger formed the company Kelsen.[2] Kelsen was acquired by
Campbell in 2013,[3] and then sold to Italian manufacturer
Ferrero in 2019 for $300 million.[4][5]
The blue tin box features an image of the Hjemstavnsgaard farmhouse on the island of
Funen in Denmark.[2] The container has become a part of
popular culture, with many people having kept the tin box and used it for storing other items, most commonly
sewing supplies.[6][7][8][9][10][11]