On a quiet stretch of countryside in southern Sweden, three sisters are redefining what it means to run a modern rural business. Josefin Levinsson, 30, along with her two sisters, has turned the family farm where they grew up into a thriving enterprise that blends tradition with innovation and community with sustainability (Flättinge Gård web).
“We started the company in 2014, when we were all still studying”, Josefin explains. “It began as a summer job; we just wanted to see if we could create something of our own on the farm”. What began as a seasonal experiment quickly evolved into a full-time endeavour. Today, the sisters operate a farm shop and café, grow and process lupin beans, and produce a range of homemade products, including juices, chutneys, and pastries.
A key feature of their business is the use of lupin-based food. “The new part is when we started growing lupin beans”, says Josefin. “It’s still quite unusual in Sweden, especially to grow and process them on-site and use them as the main protein source in food products”. From these beans, they make burgers and patties that are sold to cafés, restaurants, and shops. The sisters do every step—from growing and drying to processing—on the farm itself. “It doesn’t leave the farm until it’s a finished product”, Josefin points out.
This hands-on, circular approach applies to everything they do. Their café serves pastries made from scratch with local and Swedish ingredients, and the farm shop offers not only prepared foods but also eggs from their chickens and beef from their cattle. “We try to use what we have here as much as possible”, she adds.
Her motivation goes beyond profit. “We like this place. We grew up here and want to preserve it, but not necessarily in the traditional way it’s been done before”, Josefin explains. Instead, they’ve carved out their path—one that values both sustainability and creativity. “Baking one day, building furniture the next, taking care of the animals… It’s the variety that makes it so fun”.
While their journey has been largely positive, it hasn’t been without challenges. “Some people assume our father built everything and gave us jobs, that we’re just tinkering”, she says. “They think we can’t handle the animals or the machines. But honestly, we hear that less and less”. For the most part, their experience as women entrepreneurs has been empowering, if occasionally marked by outdated assumptions.
One ongoing difficulty lies in navigating rural development policies. Because their business is not classified as agricultural—despite being located on a farm—they fall between categories and are therefore ineligible for certain EU subsidies. “It’s more difficult to apply for those funds”, Josefin notes. “We’re somewhere in between”. Support, she says, would be most helpful in helping to structure the many parts of their business and reach a wider audience. “Like many rural businesses, we do a bit of everything. Finding effective ways to manage that and scale up would help”.
A bright spot has been their involvement in local networks. Through the “Food Around Gränna” project, they collaborate with nearby businesses and farms. “It’s great to be able to cooperate with others and help each other”, says Josefin. “That kind of collaboration is wonderful”.