The story of an entrepreneur

The story of Olaf Frich and Dombås

Olaf Frich was 27 years old when he arrived at Dombås in 1942. He was a newly qualified confectioner and had probably spent some time at sea. Dombås was a hub of military and civilian activity when Olaf Frich started his first business during WW2.

Since he was in the heart of a farming district with plenty of cows, he started selling milk! With the help of some local credit, he soon expanded his business by baking bread in a small room behind the dairy store, and then he opened his café. Although there were already several cafés in Dombås, Frich’s cafe soon became very popular.

He expanded the café in several stages before buying the large bakery next to Joramo, which the Germans had built and operated during WW2. It was known as the most modern bakery between Oslo and Trondheim, and boasted a ‘dough mixer’ with a capacity to produce 930 loaves of bread an hour.

Towards the end of the 1960s, Olaf Frich saw that there was no longer any value to adding any more to his not particularly aesthetic box. He decided instead to venture big, and in 1971 Frichgården was complete with space for a variety of shops next to his own business.

Olaf Frich passed away in 1977, but the business underwent substantial modernisation in 2000. Grandson Øyvind took over. He understood that the "Frich brand" had to be modernised and brought in line with local food and local produce.

From 2003 to 20xx, the company acquired a number of food and beverage outlets at several strategic locations, including Rudshøgda, Otta, Oppdal and Alvdal. Today the company is the largest in the private sector in Dovre, with more than 200 people on its payroll throughout the year.

The spirit of Olaf Frich lives on in new ways, 
and is kept alive by new generations.