Non Stop is Marabou’s small, colorful, sugar-coated chocolate button, a classic Swedish candy eaten by the handful or sprinkled over cakes and desserts. You will find it in Swedish pantries for everyday snacking, at kids’ parties, and on top of whipped cream cakes at fika. The rest of this guide covers ingredients, buying options, and where to order it if you live outside Sweden.
TL;DR:
- Non Stop features a colorful sugar shell that stays crisp until bitten, with a soft milk chocolate center that provides a contrasting texture and flavor.
- The candy has been produced by Marabou in Sweden since the 1940s, making it a long-standing staple in Swedish snacking and baking.
- Allergen warnings include milk and soy, with possible traces of nuts and wheat, and labels vary by market, so consumers should always check ingredient information.
- Outside Sweden, Non Stop ships through specialty retailers like Sweets by Svea, which prioritizes fast transit and insulated packaging to prevent melting during warm weather.
- It is recommended to treat Non Stop as an occasional treat due to its high sugar content, and portion control is essential for those watching calorie intake.
Table of Contents
- What does Non Stop look like and where did it come from?
- What is in Non Stop, and what allergens should you check?
- How do people actually eat and serve Non Stop?
- Where can you buy Non Stop outside Sweden, and how does shipping work?
- Is Non Stop a treat you should eat often, and are there variants?
- A short history of Marabou and how Non Stop fits in
- Why Non Stop matters more to Swedish expats than new buyers
- Sourcing and shipping Non Stop, from someone who ships it
- Get authentic Marabou Non Stop delivered to your door
- FAQ
- Sources
What does Non Stop look like and where did it come from?
Non Stop is instantly recognizable: tiny round chocolate buttons with a hard, glossy sugar shell in a mix of bright colors, usually reds, yellows, greens, and blues. Inside, each button holds a soft milk chocolate center, so the bite starts with a light crack from the shell before the chocolate takes over. The contrast between crunchy coating and smooth filling is the whole point of the candy, and it is why Non Stop reads as “fun” rather than “fancy” on a dessert table.
The candy comes from Marabou), the Swedish chocolate maker that introduced Non Stop in the 1940s and still produces it today. Marabou itself dates to 1916, and production later moved to Upplands Väsby, where the company has made its confections for decades.
Pack sizes vary, but you will commonly see Non Stop sold in bags around 150 grams and 225 grams, depending on the retailer and market. Shoppers buying for a party or a baking project usually pick the larger bag, while the smaller size works fine for everyday snacking.
A quick rundown of what sets Non Stop apart:
- Shape: small round buttons, easy to eat by the handful or scatter on top of food.
- Shell: a hard sugar coating in mixed bright colors that stays crisp until it is bitten.
- Center: milk chocolate, softer and richer than the shell.
- Origin: made by Marabou, a Swedish brand with roots going back to 1916.
Marabou first introduced Non Stop in the 1940s, which makes it one of the longer-running candy lines still sold in Sweden today.
What is in Non Stop, and what allergens should you check?
Non Stop’s ingredient list centers on sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, and milk powder for the chocolate center, with a shell made from sugar, coloring agents, and a glazing or emulsifying agent that gives the coating its shine. Exact proportions and additive names can shift slightly between production runs, so the package itself is always the final word.
Allergen declarations matter here. Marabou’s product listing notes milk and soy among the declared allergens, and the candy may contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat depending on the production line. If you or someone you are buying for has a nut or gluten sensitivity, read the current label rather than relying on older packaging photos or secondhand lists.
A few points worth keeping in mind:
- Ingredient order and additive names can vary slightly by country or batch, since labeling rules differ by market.
- Colorants in European packaging are sometimes listed as E-numbers rather than by common name.
- “May contain” warnings for peanuts, nuts, and wheat reflect shared production equipment, not added ingredients.
Buyers importing the candy should treat the printed label on the bag they receive as the accurate source, since online descriptions can lag behind a label update.
How do people actually eat and serve Non Stop?
Non Stop shows up most often as a fika snack, a party bowl filler, or a cake topping, and each use plays to a different strength of the candy. At fika, a small bowl of Non Stop next to coffee and pastries is a normal sight in Swedish homes. At kids’ parties, the bright color mix does double duty as both candy and informal décor. For baking, the hard sugar shell is the real asset: it holds its color and shape far better than plain chocolate chips would on a frosted surface.
A few ways to use it:
- Scatter a handful over a frosted sheet cake for a quick, colorful finish.
- Mix a small bowl into a party candy spread alongside other pick-and-mix sweets.
- Press a row of Non Stop into firm buttercream as a simple cake border.
- Fold a spoonful into vanilla ice cream just before serving for crunch.
If you want inspiration beyond cake tops, sites covering vibrant food presentation show how colorful small items like these can anchor a dessert table or a party platter.
Pro Tip: Add Non Stop to whipped cream desserts right before serving, since the moisture can soften the sugar shell and cause the colors to bleed if it sits too long.
Where can you buy Non Stop outside Sweden, and how does shipping work?
If you live outside Sweden, your realistic options are specialty Swedish food retailers that ship internationally, since Non Stop rarely shows up on general supermarket shelves abroad. These retailers typically stock a range of Marabou products alongside other Swedish brands, which also solves the problem of finding complementary treats in one order. Sweets by Svea is one such retailer, carrying Marabou Non Stop along with other Marabou lines.
Shipping chocolate internationally comes with a few predictable risks: transit time, customs handling, and heat exposure. Chocolate is sensitive to temperature, so orders placed during hot months carry a higher risk of a softened or melted center arriving at your door. A few things to watch for:
- Check the retailer’s stated delivery window before ordering, especially around holidays.
- Favor sellers that use insulated packaging or cold packs during warm weather.
- Know that food items can be subject to customs review, which varies by country and is outside any single retailer’s control.
- Store chocolate in a cool, dry place once it arrives, away from direct sunlight.
Chocolate’s sensitivity to heat is one reason specialty retailers emphasize fast transit, since a shorter time in transit reduces the window for melting during warm weather. If a bag arrives with a softened shell, refrigerating it briefly can firm it back up, though the glossy shine may not fully return.
Is Non Stop a treat you should eat often, and are there variants?
Non Stop is a candy, not a snack food, and it should be treated as an occasional treat rather than a daily habit. Like most sugar coated chocolate candies, it is calorie-dense for its size, and the sugar shell adds to the total sugar content beyond what the chocolate center alone would carry. Portion size matters more than any single ingredient here.
Formulations can vary by market, and some regions may see different shell colors or minor recipe adjustments, so checking the current label is the only reliable way to know what is in the bag you are holding. A few things to keep in mind:
- Treat Non Stop as an occasional candy rather than a regular snack, given its sugar content.
- Check the label each time you buy, since recipes and shell colors can shift between markets or production runs.
- If you are comparing options for a nut-free household, pair Non Stop with other Marabou products like Helnöt only after confirming allergen statements, since nut-containing lines are made on shared equipment.
- The sourcing policy of some specialty Swedish food retailers emphasizes products free of GMOs, parabens, and high fructose corn syrup, which matters if you are screening ingredients beyond allergens alone.
A short history of Marabou and how Non Stop fits in
Marabou has been making chocolate in Sweden since 1916, and the company later moved its production to Upplands Väsby, where it has remained a central part of Swedish chocolate manufacturing. Over the decades, Marabou built a catalog that spans everyday milk chocolate bars, nut-studded blocks, and novelty candies, with Non Stop sitting in that last category.
Non Stop entered the lineup in the 1940s, making it one of Marabou’s older continuously sold products rather than a recent addition. Its staying power says something about how Swedish candy culture works: simple, colorful, shareable treats tend to outlast more elaborate confections because they fit into everyday rituals like fika and casual snacking rather than special occasions alone.
Marabou today operates as part of Mondelēz International’s Northern Europe business, which documents the brand’s Nordic roots and ongoing production in Sweden. That corporate structure has not changed the basics of what Non Stop is or how it is made, and the candy remains tied to its original Swedish identity even as it reaches international buyers through specialty retailers.
For anyone curious about Marabou beyond Non Stop, the brand also makes products like Mintkrokant, which shows the range the company has built around its core milk chocolate recipe.
Why Non Stop matters more to Swedish expats than new buyers
Non Stop occupies a different place in Sweden than it does anywhere else. It is not a prestige chocolate or a gourmet gift. It is the candy that shows up in bowls at birthday parties, in lunchboxes, and scattered over home-baked cakes without much ceremony, which is exactly why it carries weight for people who grew up with it. For Swedish expats, spotting a bag of Non Stop abroad is less about the chocolate itself and more about the memory attached to it.
For international buyers discovering it for the first time, the appeal is simpler: it is a colorful, easy-to-share candy that works well in gift baskets or candy arrangements, similar to how candy bouquet designs use small, bright pieces to build something visually fun. That crossover, familiar comfort food for one audience and a novelty item for another, is part of what keeps demand steady on both sides. It also explains why specialty retailers bother stocking it at all: the market is not just nostalgia, it is also genuine curiosity from people who have never had a Swedish fika spread.
Sourcing and shipping Non Stop, from someone who ships it
Sourcing Non Stop for customers outside Sweden means working directly with authentic Swedish stock rather than approximations or rebranded substitutes, and that distinction shapes everything else about the experience. Sweets by Svea keeps its range free of GMOs, parabens, and high fructose corn syrup, a sourcing standard that applies across its candy, snacks, and grocery categories, not just to Non Stop.
Freshness depends on speed, which is why a 1 to 3 day delivery promise matters more for chocolate than for shelf-stable snacks. Thousands of customers have ordered through specialty Swedish food retailers for exactly this reason: they want the real product, not a stand-in, and they want it to arrive in the condition it left the warehouse. If you are ordering chocolate candy for the first time internationally, ask about delivery speed before you ask about price, since a slow shipment undoes any quality the product started with.
— Sweets
Get authentic Marabou Non Stop delivered to your door
Specialty Swedish food retailers sell genuine Marabou Non Stop alongside a wider range of Swedish candy, snacks, and grocery items, so you are not limited to one product if you are stocking up for a party or a care package.
Many specialty retailers promote standards such as ingredients free from GMOs, parabens, and high fructose corn syrup, emphasizing freshness and relatively fast delivery to help ensure chocolate arrives fresh rather than melted. Beyond Non Stop, the catalog includes other crowd-pleasers like candy necklaces, peach gummy candy, and Pez candies, which pair well in a single mixed order. Browse the full Swedish candy and grocery range and build your own order today.
FAQ
What is Non Stop candy made of?
Non Stop is a milk chocolate candy with a hard, colorful sugar shell, made with sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, and milk powder in the center. The shell adds coloring agents and a glazing ingredient, and declared allergens include milk and soy, with possible traces of peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat.
Is Non Stop the same as M&M’s?
Non Stop and M&M’s are both sugar-shelled chocolate candies, but they are separate products from separate companies. Non Stop is made by Marabou, the Swedish chocolate brand that introduced it in the 1940s, and it has its own recipe, shell texture, and color mix.
Can you buy Non Stop outside Sweden?
Yes, specialty retailers that focus on Swedish food and candy ship Non Stop internationally, including Sweets by Svea. Delivery times and packaging vary by retailer, so check shipping details before ordering, especially during warm months when chocolate is more sensitive to heat.
What pack sizes does Non Stop come in?
Non Stop is commonly sold in bags around 150 grams and 225 grams, though exact sizing can vary by retailer and region. Larger bags are typically chosen for parties or baking projects, while smaller bags suit everyday snacking.
Does Non Stop contain nuts or gluten?
Non Stop’s allergen declarations list milk and soy, with “may contain” warnings for peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat due to shared production equipment. Anyone with a nut or gluten sensitivity should check the current package label, since ingredient and allergen statements can vary slightly between production batches.
