Åsa Domeij is Head of Environmental Affairs at Axfood. With her degree in agricultural sciences, many years’ experience in environmental issues and huge commitment, Åsa addresses current issues in the industry.

Of course customers have a right to know!

Posted date: 10 April 2013  0 Comments

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Following the horsemeat scandal, there is a renewed focus on the supply chain for food and on consumer information. I am convinced that the vast majority of customers want to know where the meat in ready meals and processed products comes from. Axfood’s private labels, such as Garant, carry that information on the packaging (except for a small number for which this is not yet possible). When it...

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Eco Gala January 31

Posted date: 24 January 2013  0 Comments

Are you going to visit the Ekogalan on January 31 at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm? The gala, organized by ekoweb, will be well attended. It is the perfect opportunity for those who want to hear what is going on in the market of organic food and mingle with people who are engaged in the field. The discussions will focus much about what you can do to develop the eco market in a faster way. This y...

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New candy bags to the stores

Posted date: 28 November 2012  0 Comments

Now comes the new and improved eco bags to the candy in our stores. There has been some customer comments on that paper bags have plastic windows. The customers have pointed out that it is bad from an environmental right. It's not easy to know how to sort a bag consisting of both plastic and paper. How many people know that you should sort the paper for more than half the paper? Many peopl...

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Why doesn’t everyone carry a green bag?

Posted date: 15 September 2012  0 Comments

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"Why doesn’t everyone carry a green bag?" was the title of a seminar organised by the Swedish Plastics and Chemicals Federation at Sweden’s major political gathering, Almedalen Week in Visby. I was invited to speak since Hemköp was the first to launch a "real" eco-carrier made from bioplastic last spring. Many in the industry working with the plastics of the future found it encouraging to see s...

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When will battery eggs be banned?

Posted date: 7 August 2012  0 Comments

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Animal Rights Sweden organised a seminar about battery eggs, and I was there as a retailer, since Hemköp and Prisxtra have decided to go battery egg free. There were also representatives from the animal rights movement, municipal politics and the Swedish Environmental　Management Council. There was, of course, a great deal of discussion about animal welfare criteria in public procurement, since ...

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Open meeting with coffee and biscuits

Posted date: 5 July 2012  0 Comments

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The Haga Initiative had set up daily interviews with the CEOs of the Haga companies over coffee. Now it was the turn of Axfood and Löfbergs Lila. Since Axfood’s CEO Anders Strålman was unable to attend, I deputised, answering questions alongside Löfbergs Lila CEO Lars Appelqvist. The Green Party’s spokesperson Åsa Romson dropped by and put a few questions of her own. We answered questions that ...

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The store as energy supplier

Posted date: 2 July 2012  0 Comments

Today I attended a seminar in Almedalen on open district heating, organised by Fortum. The topic was the future of district heating and the industry’s cultural revolution. Are we moving towards district heating systems that transfer surplus heat to where it is most needed at the time, instead of mainly building large-scale generation plants? Anders Egelrud, CEO of Fortum, talked about the chang...

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The climate issue – how do we take the next step?

Posted date: 3 June 2012  0 Comments

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I was asked quite a few questions about how best to influence the assortment of products sold by retailers. I had various suggestions, but my best tip is not just to try to influence the support offices of the chains, but to actually talk to the stores. Most customers keep their opinions to themselves, but it is always good for the stores to hear what customers think directly. Almedalen Week co...

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How to save the rainforest with palm oil plantations expanding?

Posted date: 20 March 2012  0 Comments

On 9 March, Swedish broadsheet Svenska Dagbladet carried an article on palm oil production and the destruction of rainforest. The article is interesting in that it considers both the major damage to biodiversity caused by the expansion, and the increased prosperity that the plantations bring. Palm oil production is efficient, since the yield per hectare is high. There is considerable environmen...

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Is organic food healthier?

Posted date: 5 March 2012  0 Comments

Last week, the Ekologiskt Forum (Organic Forum) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) held a seminar titled ‘Quality, health and organic food – new research findings’. A similar seminar was held a few years ago, so one aim was to see whether understandings have changed since then. One difficulty with this type of research is that the methods used in organic farming can diffe...

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