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apply this perspective when it started the business 20 years ago. Since then other
companies have followed suit. From a sustainability-oriented innovation perspective, the company is conducting system building through the strategy of working in
networks with a win-win focus.
5.5.4 Ästad Vineyard
Ästad Vineyard used to be a traditional farm, with 100 hectares of fields, meadows
and pastures, producing milk and grain. The previous owner, and father of the current owners, changed to ecological milk production in the mid-1980s in order to
raise the low profitability of the farm. That was the starting point for a continuous
and ongoing sustainable business model development. The next step was to invite
school classes with fifth graders to come and have an experience of the farming
activities. It developed into a team-building concept, where companies could bring
their employees to the farm and solve intellectual and practical problems together.
The current owners, three siblings, improved the old farm buildings and built
some additional buildings, which they used to develop the business model with a
spa integrated with the small river, a restaurant, a conference centre, a hotel and a
winery/vineyard. Today, they have 15,000 vines, and the wine is sold to distributors
and directly to end consumers at the restaurant. An important and explicit building
block of their business model is to use and develop the resources of the farm, the
small river, the buildings, the vegetables, the wine, etc. The owners claim that:
By experience we know that every challenge we meet also leads to new opportunities.
The family was conducting a traditional farm business from its inception. A desire
to increase profitability and catch opportunities led to diversification and continuous
business development. The sustainability aspect was based on partly an identification of the farm and land as a key asset from a business perspective and partly on a
stewardship perspective. The company matches three SBM archetypes: (i) deliver
functionality, rather than ownership, (ii) substitute with renewables and natural processes and (iii) adopt a stewardship role.
From a sustainability-oriented innovation perspective, this firm is at the organizational transformation level (“doing good by doing new things”).
5.5.5 Wapnö Farm
Wapnö Gård is an estate with an old history. It has been one of largest farming
estates in Sweden since the fourteenth century. The current owner’s family has
owned Wapnö since 1741. Today, Wapnö is organized as a limited company and has
about 85 employees.
5 Development of Sustainable Business Models for Innovation in the Swedish…
apply this perspective when it started the business 20 years ago. Since then other
companies have followed suit. From a sustainability-oriented innovation perspective, the company is conducting system building through the strategy of working in
networks with a win-win focus.
5.5.4 Ästad Vineyard
Ästad Vineyard used to be a traditional farm, with 100 hectares of fields, meadows
and pastures, producing milk and grain. The previous owner, and father of the current owners, changed to ecological milk production in the mid-1980s in order to
raise the low profitability of the farm. That was the starting point for a continuous
and ongoing sustainable business model development. The next step was to invite
school classes with fifth graders to come and have an experience of the farming
activities. It developed into a team-building concept, where companies could bring
their employees to the farm and solve intellectual and practical problems together.
The current owners, three siblings, improved the old farm buildings and built
some additional buildings, which they used to develop the business model with a
spa integrated with the small river, a restaurant, a conference centre, a hotel and a
winery/vineyard. Today, they have 15,000 vines, and the wine is sold to distributors
and directly to end consumers at the restaurant. An important and explicit building
block of their business model is to use and develop the resources of the farm, the
small river, the buildings, the vegetables, the wine, etc. The owners claim that:
By experience we know that every challenge we meet also leads to new opportunities.
The family was conducting a traditional farm business from its inception. A desire
to increase profitability and catch opportunities led to diversification and continuous
business development. The sustainability aspect was based on partly an identification of the farm and land as a key asset from a business perspective and partly on a
stewardship perspective. The company matches three SBM archetypes: (i) deliver
functionality, rather than ownership, (ii) substitute with renewables and natural processes and (iii) adopt a stewardship role.
From a sustainability-oriented innovation perspective, this firm is at the organizational transformation level (“doing good by doing new things”).
5.5.5 Wapnö Farm
Wapnö Gård is an estate with an old history. It has been one of largest farming
estates in Sweden since the fourteenth century. The current owner’s family has
owned Wapnö since 1741. Today, Wapnö is organized as a limited company and has
about 85 employees.
5 Development of Sustainable Business Models for Innovation in the Swedish…