We know that for many of you, buying a package of plain lefse from us has become a treasured holiday tradition. We also know how much lefse means to Nordic Americans as a part of the holidays. We wanted to announce as early as possible that we will not be selling bulk packages of lefse anymore, so that you can make other arrangements for your holiday lefse this year.
We know this may be difficult news, but trying to produce extra lefse for the holidays while maintaining inventory for the restaurant has become unsustainable for us. We were never set up to be a lefse factory, and have always struggled to meet local demand during Thanksgiving and Christmas (as many of you know we sell out very quickly). For the past 14 years we have put ourselves and our staff under great strain, sacrificing our own holiday plans and time with family, in order to try and provide the community with packages of our fresh lefse. For our own mental and physical health, and for the health of the business, we will not be offering bulk packages of plain lefse for the foreseeable future.
Should you want to buy plain lefse from us, the limit will be 3 pieces per person, and we will only be able to sell 6 pieces of plain lefse total on any given day. We cannot afford to run out of lefse for the lefse wraps which are the foundation of the business, and we feel that limiting plain lefse sales in this way will be the most fair method.
Some of you might suggest that we simply raise the price of a dozen lefse, as we have done in the past. The reality is that in order to make bulk lefse preparation worth our while, we would need to charge at least $80 per dozen, and we just don't feel that is a reasonable cost for something you all can make at home for a few dollars (it's the labor and clean up that are the real cost of making lefse, as anyone who has made it well knows).
We have researched and taste-tested all the prominent lefse producers who ship. We found Norseland and Jacob's Lefse Bakeri and Gifts make a lefse that is the closest to Viking Soul Food's lefse in terms of the flavor and texture. If you're desperate for lefse, give them a try!