A value-adding workplace
Sustainable cultivation
Resource-efficient operations
The products of the future

Sveriges stärkelseproducenter

Sustainability report

FY 23

Welcome to our sustainability report

Sveriges stärkelseproducenter

Sustainability for us

Our business is based on an effective interplay between nature and humans, and we work hard to ensure this interplay is sustainable in the long term.

The year in brief

New core values for the Swedish business

10/12%

less energy/water per tonne of starch in new Mjällby facility

Rainforest Alliance-marked pepper
Decision to phase out propylene oxide
Positive EU report on CRISPR-Cas9

50%

New higher goal for share of certified turmeric (SSI definition of sustainable purchasing)

47/53

Ratio of men/women in management in the Czech business

38%

Share of our Swedish growers using bio-diesel

Here you can read about our business and how we constantly improve it together. We want to be part of a sustainable future.
Hans Holmstedt
CEO and Group CEO

A few words from our CEO

Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter operates through our brands, Lyckeby, Solam, Culinar and Kockens, on a global market that in the last financial year has been strongly affected by the invasion of Ukraine. Both from the human perspective and the more business-relevant, where inflation, high energy prices and a poor economic situation have had a clear effect on our business. Global uncertainty reveals our society’s vulnerability, and the necessity for us as a company to work in a methodical and long-term way with our sustainability process.

About Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter

Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter is an agricultural cooperative founded in 1927. The association has 600 members in southern Sweden, of whom 400 are active growers of our primary raw material – starch potatoes.

The association has two business areas: starch and flavor. Our starch operations are run under the name Lyckeby, while flavor is managed by the companies Culinar Sverige AB (Culinar) and Kockens AB (Kockens) and Lyckeby Culinar A.S. In total, the association employs around 360 people in Sweden and 130 in the Czech Republic. Turnover is approximately 3 billion kronor.

Our vision

Our vision

Starch potatoes are the most profitable option for our growers.

Our timeline

1927
Founding of Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter agricultural co-operative
1961
Construction of the factory in Mjällby
1962
Construction of the factory in Nöbbelöv
1967
Acquisition of Culinar
1994
Acquisition of Amylex starch production in the Czech Republic
2003
Culinar establishes operations in the Czech Republic
2006
Certified energy management system in the Swedish starch business
2008
Acquisition of the consumer brand Kockens
2016
Start-up of expanded operations in Kristianstad
2017
Culinar inaugurates production of liquids
2018
Culinar in Sweden joins the Sustainable Spices Initiative
2019
Fossil-free production in Fjälkinge
2020
The transition from LPG to bio oil begins in the Swedish starch business
2022
Start-up of expanded production in Mjällby

Starch

We produce starch from potatoes and transform it to suit our customers’ needs and requirements. All of the potatoes in our Swedish production are grown by our owners.

Read more about the business area

The process water from production is returned to the fields to water the crops

Our main raw material is starch potatoes grown by our owners

Soil and stones from potato deliveries are used as fill materials, for example during road construction

We refine starch into starch for the paper industry

The potatoes delivered to the starch factory are fractionated into starch, fiber, and protein

The starch and fiber are also refined into value-added products for the food industry

The plant parts remaining after the food-grade fiber has been processed are concentrated into pulp and sold as feed. Also the potato protein is refined into a nutritious feed product

The nutrients in the potato juice are concentrated and sold as fertilizer

Our brands within the starch business area

Starch operations

We buy potatoes, in Sweden from our potato growers and owners, and in the Czech Republic from 150 local growers. Then we process and utilize the material in the potato in the best possible way so we can offer customized, functional potato starch products to customers within the food and paper industries. We focus on markets and applications where potato starch has high potential, giving our customers added value. When you buy from Lyckeby, you always get support and knowledge within the areas of product development, applications, logistics, and quality, from our highly experienced team. Our mission is for the starch potato to be the most profitable alternative for our growers.

In addition to transforming the starch, we also make use of side streams from other components in the starch potato, as far as possible. We transform the potato fiber to a food-grade product, sell the protein as animal food, and in our Swedish operations the juice and surplus water are transferred back to the fields as concentrate to fertilize and water the crops. A circular process that we are very proud of!

Lyckeby

Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter offers customized, functional starch products and potato fiber to the global food industry under the Lyckeby brand.

Solam

Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter sells value-added starch products to the paper industry in Europe under the Solam brand.

Flavor

We blend spices with other ingredients to create products that simplify customer logistics.

Read more about the business area

Seed

Cultivation

Harvest

Processing

Documentation

Quality control

Purchasing

Delivery

Quality control

Recipe development

Packaging

Quality control

Distribution

Consumer

Our brands within the flavor business area

Our flavor operations

At Culinar, we blend spices from all over the world with other functional ingredients (including Lyckeby’s potato starch) to create ready-to-use flavor and texture ingredients for the food industry. Our role in the value chain is to simplify and streamline logistics and blending in the customer’s end process.

Contributing support and knowledge within applications such as snacks, meat and deli, bakery, etc., is an important part of our business. Here we collaborate closely with the customer so the consumer receives a good end product. As well as application knowledge, we also optimize packaging and manufacturing to minimize waste and simplify handling of ingredients by the customer.

At Culinar, we also create products that are sold directly to the consumer and to the catering industry via Kockens.

Culinar

Culinar Sverige AB and Lyckeby Culinar A.S. offer a wide range of spices, other ingredients, and unique blends to the food industry in Europe under the Culinar brand.

Kockens

Kockens AB creates products targeted at consumers, restaurants, and catering in Sweden under the Kockens brand. The product range consists of dried herbs and spices, potato starch, and gluten-free flour.

Our production units

Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter has five production units in Sweden and two in the Czech Republic, all located close to where our starch raw materials are grown.

Our sustainability process

As a business, we need never doubt that our products have a self-evident place in a sustainable future, but with this knowledge as a foundation we constantly strive to improve our working methods – with the ambition of minimizing negative impacts from our operations and maximizing their benefits for society. We have chosen to focus our sustainability efforts within four main focus areas we feel are most relevant from a risk and impact perspective.

These focus areas are common to our two business areas, and follow our value chain, centering on the processing of cultivated raw materials. Our focus on these areas means we can contribute to a more sustainable world. Here, we present our focus areas and the Agenda 2030 goals we link to our sustainability process.

A value-adding workplace