On E6 between Minnesund and Hamar, there's a Shell petrol station that sells over 2 million buns a year. They call it Bolleland, and they claim to have "the world's best buns". It's printed on everything - t-shirts, underwear, caps, pastille boxes, even car air fresheners.
The story is very Norwegian. In the 1990s, three owners took over a petrol station at Espa. They started with hot dogs - the place was known as "Pølseland". Around 2000 they switched to buns, starting with a small hotplate baking six at a time. A TV appearance on NRK in 2007 doubled their business overnight. Now they have four pizza ovens producing up to 2,000 buns an hour.
Here's what they don't advertise: the dough is made at Bakers bakery in Oslo's Økern district. It arrives frozen, gets proofed in a humidity room overnight, then baked on site. This is standard "bake-off" - the same method used at petrol stations everywhere. In fact, other Shell and Statoil stations sell buns from the exact same dough.
Food reviewers who've actually tested the buns are less enthusiastic than the marketing suggests. One described the basic bun as "adequate but underbaked", the chocolate one as "so sweet it produces a high-frequency sound in your head". The verdict: any proper bakery will do better.
So why do people stop? Location, mostly. Espa sits perfectly on the route to Hafjell, Sjusjøen, Kvitfjell and other cabin areas. Far enough from Oslo that you need a break, not so far that you've already stopped elsewhere. The selection helps too - ten varieties means everyone finds something. And the prices are reasonable for a petrol station, not much different from competitors.
But really, it's the fuss that makes it fun. The merchandise is absurd. They sell more branded underwear than windscreen washer fluid. There's a bun counter on the wall tracking annual sales. The Danes apparently love the carrier bags as souvenirs. It's been compared to a Norwegian Hard Rock Café - a place you stop because everyone does, and you buy something silly to prove it.
The queues can be long during holiday periods. On peak days they've sold over 17,000 buns. The place is open 24 hours - they haven't closed since Christmas Eve 2004.
Worth stopping? If you have children demanding buns, yes. If you appreciate brazen marketing confidence, absolutely. Just don't expect the world's best buns - expect a decent petrol station bun and a good laugh at the spectacle.