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‘Sweden still has a problem when it comes to cutting down on food waste’

Sweden is known for its unique food and progressive eco-friendly culture. Australian native Cathy Xiao Chen combined the two after moving to Uppsala three years ago.

Published: 2 January 2017 06:59 CET
Updated: 3 January 2017 06:46 CET
'Sweden still has a problem when it comes to cutting down on food waste'
Entrepreneur Cathy Xiao Chen. Photo: Private

“We should think of ourselves as stewards of the Earth and everything that comes with it,” Chen explains when asked what 'food sustainability' actually means. The term is commonly known, however is more dense than it sounds. It encompasses everything from, in Chen's own words, “taking care of the environment by making sure that we use our resources efficiently and responsibly” to “limiting over-consumption and waste”.

Chen was first introduced to food sustainability when working at a 100 percent organic restaurant in Sydney. Describing it as a place she could call home, it was this restaurant which sparked her interest in eco-friendly food, guiding her to Uppsala University in 2013 where she received her degree in food sustainability.

“I took the money and ran,” she jokes.

She is today the co-founder of 'Smaka Lokal' (directly translated as 'Taste Local'), a startup promoting food sustainability in Uppsala, Sweden. Its premise surrounds one major problem which threatens not only sustainability in Sweden, but sustainability for the whole world.

“When food gets thrown away, its not just the resources that go into producing the food that are going to waste, it's also all of the additional resources that are used when you are transporting, processing it into something else, and then taking that product back,” Chen explains.

Chen argues that the serious problem of overconsumption in the 21st century results in an “epidemic of overweight and obesity around the world”.

Overconsumption is so severe that even the notoriously eco-friendly Sweden can't escape from it. Every month, Stockholm alone collects nearly 100,000 kilogram of food waste.

“We [Sweden] still have a problem when it comes to cutting down on food waste. (…) If we simply stop wasting food – which my current estimate is about one third of everything that we eat – we would have lot less of a problem.”

That's exactly what Chen set out to do. Smaka Lokal is a food distributor like no other with the motto “more food, less waste”. The company is based on an app which advertises excess food to consumers directly, provided by restaurants, cafés and local retailers.

“Since restaurants always have to overproduce to provide for an unknown amount of customers, they have more food than they're going to sell. On our app, these restaurants can take pictures of the left-over food and then consumers can buy it at a discounted price.”

Instead of creating their own infrastructure system, Smaka Lokal uses Uppsala's present resources in order to be altogether environmentally friendly. “We thought: why not make it a takeaway system? That would make the most sense since it makes the best use of the pre-existing transport system and doesn't make waste,” says Chen.

The idea has extended over the whole of Uppsala. “We really reduce the amount of waste and assess the amount of food that actually needs to be produced.”


Food waste being composted in Stockholm. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT

Swedish cities are regularly touted as some of the most eco-friendly in Europe, and being located in the university town of Uppsala is nothing short of an advantage in regards to food sustainability. Chen says that “the awareness is definitely there. Second-hand shopping is really popular here, and lots of people recycle or drive hybrid cars, which is something you don't find a lot of in other countries”.

Chen and her team are proof that creating a successful and innovative business in Sweden which encapsulates its culture doesn't necessarily require Swedish roots. “I'm a permanent resident now, but in no way Swedish,” Chen laughs. In addition, her team at Smaka Lokal is completely international, composed of an Iranian co-founder living in Hong Kong, a London-based graphic designer, and finally a Russian-Syrian entrepreneur. “We get quite a global perspective, which is quite beneficial,” she explains. “The language barrier isn't so much of an issue.”

However, Chen's success doesn't come easy. Her personal business-method is “quite challenging”, as it requires a lot of travelling around Uppsala and face-to-face time with the clients. Chen advises other startups too to “try and meet people on their own terms. Building up your network, going to places where you know the right people are going to be, building up friendships – that really helps”.

Currently, Smaka Lokal is only available for businesses to advertise their food. However, just because you can't advertise your food doesn't mean you can't contribute to a more sustainable food environment, especially on the back of the year's biggest holidays.

“There are so many homeless people and refugees that don't have all the access to resources that we would otherwise want them to have. It would be great if people tried to donate some of their food to people who are hungry.”

Chen's ambition doesn't just stop in Uppsala. In the future, she wants to expand her business to nearby Stockholm – and even further. “I have a lot of plans,” she says. “If we were to become billionaires overnight, we could put more money into researching more sustainable takeaway systems for example… there are so many initiatives for agricultural production.”

“We are currently looking for businesses to come on board in Uppsala. If anybody knows a business that would like to promote their sustainability profile and are willing to try something new and to make their business more environmentally friendly, then we would love to talk to them.”

This article was written by The Local's intern Tilly Olsson.

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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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