Since 2018, Maja DeBernardo and Fredrik Svensson have been running LokaltOdlat Sverige AB, and just as the company name suggests, the business idea is about locally produced products. The goal is for more small growers to join the concept that vegetables from LokaltOdlat should not be produced more than thirty kilometers away. Good for both the climate and for traders who can guarantee the quality and origin of the vegetables. 

Hello, Tell us more about Locally Grown and how it all started!

We have always been interested in good food and thought for a long time about how we could produce nutritious food ourselves on a small area. In our case, it started with chickens, perfect pets for a family with small children, where the children's leftovers became food and we got nice eggs. From there, the step to a small flock of sheep didn't seem like a huge deal - good food, open landscape and no transport! Large quantities of lamb are otherwise imported from New Zealand. 

Then we discovered microgreens – crops that are grown indoors, without soil, and that require minimal space. In 2018, we contacted a few local restaurants in Sigtuna who took advantage of our offer of locally grown crops. This was the start of a small-scale business with regular deliveries of microgreens to the majority of Sigtuna’s restaurants and conference hotels.

How did you come into contact with Upplandsbygd?

We had done an educational project with Upplandsbygd regarding cultivation together with schools in Sigtuna Municipality. When Upplandsbygd opened up applications for the Sustainable Entrepreneurship 2030 program, the goal was to gain a larger network and new knowledge in entrepreneurship. Our goal is to get more growers to want to join LokaltOdlat.

How has your business developed since you were accepted into the program?

During the course of the program, we had the pandemic completely wipe out our primary market as hotels and conferences went to zero customers overnight. We had to adjust our operations for a while and sales were made through REKO rings in the local area. 

But we have been given the opportunity in the meantime to invest in a business plan, legal documents and improved documentation for growers and stakeholders of our concept. 

What is the next step?

Our plan is to help other small entrepreneurs do the same. We have spent a lot of time finding the right suppliers of everything needed to run a farm. Based on that, we created the company LokaltOdlat Sverige AB. The goal is to collaborate and help others get started with local farms, with a stated goal that it should be no more than 30 km from farm to customer.

We can offer other growers everything from knowledge, consumables and entire systems. We want to increase the number of growers and together we can use the name LokaltOdlat which reflects what we do so well.

What does sustainable entrepreneurship mean to you?

Sustainable entrepreneurship is a broad concept where we mostly focus on contributing to what is produced locally. Deliveries become less sensitive to social disruptions and missed transports, and we can also deliver live crops completely without packaging. For customers, this means longer shelf life and less waste.

Sustainable should also be inclusive and educational. Together with Sigtuna Municipality, we operate cultivation in canteens at several schools in the municipality.

Tips for sustainable entrepreneurship

Get started, it doesn't have to be perfect overnight! Conscious small steps
in the right direction takes you towards the goal.