Lantmännen: announces large-scale fossil-free food production

Stockholm / SE. (lg) Sweden’s Lantmännen Group will be the first in the world to implement fossil-free production of food on a large scale this year – throughout the value chain from field to fork. Lantmännen is now presenting the products that will be produced from the autumn harvest. First out is the flour range within Kungsörnen and AXA’s oatmeal.

This year, Lantmännen is implementing fossil-free production of food on a large scale. This means that the grain is produced in a fossil-free value chain through plant nutrition, cultivation, transport and processing. Group President and CEO Magnus Kagevik: «A new era for sustainable food is now beginning. Emissions must be reduced if we are to achieve the climate goals. At the same time, food production needs to increase. By enabling large-scale fossil-free production, Lantmännen is showing the way forward in the food industry.»

Lantmännen is now presenting its plans for which products will be produced first. These include AXA’s classic oatmeal and different types of flour from Kungsörnen, which will be available in stores around the country next year.

«The fact that we, as a cooperative owned by 18,000 Swedish farmers, are likely to be a world leader in large-scale fossil-free food production makes me proud. The will to change is there, and now cooperation between the market and politics is required to scale up the transition further,» concludes Magnus Kagevik.

The investment is part of Lantmännen’s Climate + Nature cultivation programme, where fossil-free energy sources have previously been used for all transports in the production chain as well as for drying and grinding in the mill. The manure has been the last piece of the puzzle that is now in place through Lantmännen’s collaboration with Yara.

What does Lantmännen mean by fossil-free energy?

Lantmännen has analysed emissions from the food value chain and gradually introduced alternatives to fossil energy. The largest uses of fossil energy can now be replaced with fossil-free alternatives. Less than five percent of fossil energy use remains in the entire value chain from farm to fork. The last share is the sum of a number of smaller flows that are currently difficult to access, such as energy use in the production of lime, plant protection products and certain packaging.