On February 17, 2026, a jury in Luleå, Sweden, tested thirteen semlor from across the city, including cafes, bakeries, and one from OKQ8, to determine the best semla. The jury, consisting of Nima Safaee, Anders Larsson, Emma Hurtig, Catharina Erlandsson, Ronja Sundqvist, and Fredrik Holmbom, reached a consensus on the winner, though not all gave it top scores. The test involved unexpected top results, harsh criticisms, and a semla from a gas station that performed poorly.
Meanwhile, the bakery and confectionery industry estimates that Swedes will eat a total of 10 million semlor on Fat Tuesday, with trends over the past decade including semmelwraps, princess semlor, and Dubai semlor, raising questions about what defines a semla today. Among Luleå's youth, there is a favorite alongside the classic variant.