The classic Italian aperitivo has 100 ingredients and produces millions of litres a year. Lingari has lingonberries, a branded snowmobile, an inside that connects to the outside - and a tagline about northern bitterness. When founders Oskar Ödling and Thomas Andersson visited eXpression Umeå's networking lunch, they shared how they broke into Systembolaget's regular range. 

Here are their key lessons learnt: 

Don't do what everyone else is doing  
At the height of the gin trend, there were over 400 Swedish distilleries. Oskar and Thomas went the other way. No one had made an all-Swedish aperitivo and that turned out to be the point. Lingonberries grow in Norrland, northern Russia and Alaska - a flavour that can't be copied down south. The advice: look at what everyone else is doing, and then do something different. 
 
Have a vision that is almost impossible to achieve  
The aim is to replace the classic Italian aperitivo on Swedish bar counters. It may not happen - but that's what keeps the direction and drive going. Having an ambitious, even almost overconfident vision helps to make decisions that would otherwise have felt impossible. Like driving a branded snowmobile down to a restaurant in Stockholm to launch a drink.  

Build community before you buy advert  
Initially, they sent bottles to bartenders, chefs and food profiles - unprompted, left and right. 99 times out of 100, they received a positive response. Now people share drinks with Lingari by themselves, and micro-influencers with genuine engagement have proved invaluable. A small notice in the Västerbottens-Kuriren newspaper led to shelves at Systembolaget selling out the next day - a reminder that the right channel beats a big budget every time. 

Dare to ask - the worst that happens is a no  
The contact with one of the industry's key players started with a spontaneous conversation and a visit with homemade buns. From there came contact with the distillery, and then with one of Sweden's best bartenders. The network is built actively, not passively. And the fear of hearing no is almost always worse than the no itself. 

 
Get started today!  

Write down ten names of key people in your industry, dream customers, potential partners. Introduce yourself and your idea. Networking doesn't build itself, but it always starts with a first conversation. 

The networking lunch was organised on 29 May by eXpression Umeå within the framework of Kreativa Norrland, in collaboration with RISE and the Umeå region, co-funded by the European Union.