Great buzz around innovative Simris Alg from Hammenhög
Innovative business in Skåne: – Seaweeds are the new technological platform, and Österlen is Sweden’s California, says CEO Fredrika Gullfot, among other things appointed as Innovation Fellow by the magazine Wired.
In June 2015, Fredrika Gullfot is appointed as one of twelve innovators in the world, by acknowledged magazine Wired, another step in the international attention Simris Alg has received since operations started in 2011.
The main reason is their green environmental technology with unique algae cultivation for the production of omega-3 fats, which only a few companies in the world are working with.
At the company’s facilities in Hammenhög, plant plankton, whose fats are a green alternative to fish oil, an oil that contributes to the overfishing of the oceans, are cultivated. Ultimately, the algae are made into food supplements that will be sold to consumers under an own brand, and as an ingredient for the food industry for nutritionally supplemented foods, so-called ”functional foods”.
Fredrika Gullfot, founder and CEO, has also just been named most entrepreneurial person of the year by The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Skåne, and one of the reasons is that she has shown how well running a business in the countryside can work.
– Österlen is ideal for innovation businesses. I often compare it to California, there’s sea and sunshine, great people, but also competence and capital, as so many business leaders live in the area. You can even run into your business angels in the square in Simrishamn. At the same time, there is a strong tradition of innovative foods in Skåne, such as Oately and Proviva, she says.
Fredrika believes that there is a great advantage to having all contacts equally close or far. Not being situated in a university town, like many young, innovative businesses are, makes it easier not to get stuck in a small, local network. Instead, you go straight to the desired contact, regardless of whether it’s in Shanghai or Stockholm.
– We have made young, highly educated people move out to Österlen. If there are attractive employers, people will come, explains Fredrika. Generally, Skåne is abuzz with activities, and I see the region as highly dynamic.
In 2014, Simris Alg is to launch its products, and also want to build more facilities, for instance in China. Fredrika explains:
– The market for omega-3 grows by 8 per cent per year, and around 23 per cent in emerging markets. That is a massive increase, so we have every chance of developing into a global enterprise. Exiting times are ahead!
