Danish baker sees sharp drop in traditional wheat bun sales

A long-standing Danish tradition of eating warm wheat buns on Great Prayer Day appears to be fading, according to a Copenhagen baker who reports sales have plummeted by 80 percent since the 1990s.

René Løvkvist, master baker and co-owner of Bageriet Nørgaard, told Danish broadcaster DR that his bakery once sold around 5,000 of the sweet, cardamom-spiced hveder buns ahead of the spring holiday—now known simply as Great Prayer Day—during the peak years of the 1990s and early 2000s. This year, he expects to sell just 1,000.

Løvkvist attributes the steep decline to the 2009 decision to remove the day’s status as an official public holiday. For at least 200 years, Danes had marked the occasion—originally a day of prayer and repentance—by purchasing the freshly baked treats, traditionally eaten warm with butter.