This site is run by James Royal-Lawson, a Englishman who emigrated to Sweden in 2000.
I've been obsessed with semlor since the moment I ate my first back in February 1999 during a visit to Stockholm. That first one was from Gunnarssons on Götgatan. As traditional an introduction as you can get!
In the early days of Facebook pages, I published the occasional semla update on my semlor page, but didn't offer any reviews, mainly encouragement to celebrate the glorious thing that is the semla.
Giving semlors ratings began in earnest in about 2014. This was the start of a period where I worked closely with Linus from Burgerdudes. We nerded-out about burgers, beer, and semlor, discussing ratings and how to rate consistently.
Since 2019 I've published a review of every semla I've had on my personal Instagram and now also on semlor.info. In the spring of 2025, I designed and coded the initial version of this website with just basic info about each semla.
For the 2026 season, the website was updated to include full review pages for every semla. My main work is as a digital advisor and designer. This website is designed and coded by me and is generated from a spreadsheet using a script that I've programmed.
I'm based in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the reason why most reviews on this site are of bakeries in Stockholm. Occasionally, I happen to be somewhere else during semla season and get lucky that semlor are being sold there.
Of course, I'd be more than happy to be sponsored to visit different parts of Sweden and the world to try semlor 😀
For any collaborations or feedback, just get in touch! james@beantin.se