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good by doing new things. It could also be argued that the company has developed
to system building. Although the company is mainly working as an entity, the farm
is large and has advanced to a form of system building, where one part of the farm
is supporting – and getting support – from other parts of the farm.
5.5.6 Green Farms
In the beginning, Green Farms used to be run as a traditional farm by the current
owner’s father. When the son, the current owner, took over the company, he wanted
to focus on sustainability and converted it to organic production in 1989. At first,
sales did not go according to plan and the cash flow was below expectations. He
could not afford to feed the cattle with expensive concentrate, so he had to feed the
cows with cheaper roughage, grass in different forms. This meant that his cattle
grew slower and were older than normal at slaughter. The owner expected that the
meat would then be of low quality and hard to sell at a good price. However, he soon
realized that the meat was of very high quality. Since it also was produced in a more
sustainable way than before, it could be sold to a premium price to customer wanting high-quality meat.
Twelve years later, in 2001 he started Green Farms. The business model was to
create a network of farms that raised and feed cattle in the same way as the first
farm. A new farm can get into the network after a trial period, if they meet the sustainable production requirements of Green Farms. The farms have to focus on animal health, sustainability and meat quality. The network members deliver their meat
to Green Farms, which sells, through the Internet, and distributes high-quality meat
to the end customers, restaurants, public kitchens and individuals. Green farms
cooperate with around 40 sustainable cattle farms in the southwest of Sweden.
When the present owner took over the farm from his father, he wanted to transform it into a sustainable farm. He took a stewardship role from the start and substituted the production processes to more sustainable processes. From a
sustainability-oriented perspective, he had developed his company through all three
phases. Today, the company has developed into system building, since the company
has developed a scale-up solution and engaged other companies in the system.
5.5.7 The South Forest Owners (Södra)
The farmers who owned forest began to organize themselves as a forest owner association in the beginning of the twentieth century. The southern and middle part of
Sweden was almost a deforested country at that time, due to bad forest management
and short-sighted profit-maximizing forest companies. In the beginning, the forest
association provided advisory services regarding forest management. However, one
significant issue for the small forest farmers was that the market was dominated by
5 Development of Sustainable Business Models for Innovation in the Swedish…
good by doing new things. It could also be argued that the company has developed
to system building. Although the company is mainly working as an entity, the farm
is large and has advanced to a form of system building, where one part of the farm
is supporting – and getting support – from other parts of the farm.
5.5.6 Green Farms
In the beginning, Green Farms used to be run as a traditional farm by the current
owner’s father. When the son, the current owner, took over the company, he wanted
to focus on sustainability and converted it to organic production in 1989. At first,
sales did not go according to plan and the cash flow was below expectations. He
could not afford to feed the cattle with expensive concentrate, so he had to feed the
cows with cheaper roughage, grass in different forms. This meant that his cattle
grew slower and were older than normal at slaughter. The owner expected that the
meat would then be of low quality and hard to sell at a good price. However, he soon
realized that the meat was of very high quality. Since it also was produced in a more
sustainable way than before, it could be sold to a premium price to customer wanting high-quality meat.
Twelve years later, in 2001 he started Green Farms. The business model was to
create a network of farms that raised and feed cattle in the same way as the first
farm. A new farm can get into the network after a trial period, if they meet the sustainable production requirements of Green Farms. The farms have to focus on animal health, sustainability and meat quality. The network members deliver their meat
to Green Farms, which sells, through the Internet, and distributes high-quality meat
to the end customers, restaurants, public kitchens and individuals. Green farms
cooperate with around 40 sustainable cattle farms in the southwest of Sweden.
When the present owner took over the farm from his father, he wanted to transform it into a sustainable farm. He took a stewardship role from the start and substituted the production processes to more sustainable processes. From a
sustainability-oriented perspective, he had developed his company through all three
phases. Today, the company has developed into system building, since the company
has developed a scale-up solution and engaged other companies in the system.
5.5.7 The South Forest Owners (Södra)
The farmers who owned forest began to organize themselves as a forest owner association in the beginning of the twentieth century. The southern and middle part of
Sweden was almost a deforested country at that time, due to bad forest management
and short-sighted profit-maximizing forest companies. In the beginning, the forest
association provided advisory services regarding forest management. However, one
significant issue for the small forest farmers was that the market was dominated by
5 Development of Sustainable Business Models for Innovation in the Swedish…