Löfbergs has been roasting coffee for more than 100 years, resulting in an expert understanding of what makes the best quality coffee. Head of Sustainability Kajsa-Lisa Ljudén, Head of Operations Development Madelene Breiling, UK Marketing Director Will Cole and UK Sales Director Alex Spruce discussed the company’s efforts towards protecting the future of the coffee industry and its implementation of sustainability, in a report by Imogen Ward.
The value chain is hugely important to Löfbergs. This family-centric company remains close to its roots, creating a warm and feel-good experience with every sip.
“We work with green coffee suppliers,” Head of Sustainability Kajsa-Lisa Ljudén said, “we firmly believe that the longer we work and build relations with the farmers, the better our knowledge will be, minimising any risks in the value chain significantly.”
With its recent expansion into the UK –and a strong presence in 10 core markets – Löfbergs continues to take the coffee industry by storm. Despite this impressive growth, the company has retained a loyal commitment to its community of farmers. The company’s dedicated research and development is helping continuously improve farmers’ welfare.
Last year, Löfbergs contributed 45 million SEK to the Fairtrade system through purchases of coffee. The company has helped over 112,000 small-scale coffee farmers through development projects since 2001, working with the ‘coffee&climate’ network and with International Coffee Partners. To these projects, Löfbergs has donated over 30 million SEK during the last 20 years.
450g of pure perfection
After launching in Tesco, Löfbergs’ coffee has been a hit with UK consumers; Will Cole, UK Marketing Director, gave insight
as to why this is: “There’s several reasons why Löfbergs has done so well in the UK. Firstly, the quality is paramount; to be able to find a single origin coffee, at the price point we can offer is unheard of. Another key selling point is the generous packaging size. Our packs come in 450g bags, which is a much larger format than the standard 250g packs of our competitors.
“When you work out the cost per cup, it’s really reasonable. I’d say it’s one of the best value branded coffees you can buy. Finally, it’s also down to our brand. We’re a proud
Swedish company and that is echoed in our products.”
A standout performer in the eyes of the UK consumers is the Single Origin Brazil Ground Coffee. Full bodied with a medium roast, this product has Rainforest Alliance certification, ensuring the very best taste without sacrificing the welfare of those harvesting the beans. All of Löfbergs’ coffee is purchased directly from the country it is grown in, which is more unusual in the world of coffee.
“In Sweden we see similarities in customers’ interests; there are a lot of parallels in taste preferences,” Head of Operations Development Madelene Breiling said. “Our awareness of sustainability is also hugely important to our consumers as well. From the certifications we hold, to the coffee’s journey, including who the farmers are
and how we support them, we work hard on every element.”
As one of the Nordic Region’s largest family-run coffee business, Löfbergs sees its customers as a hugely important element of both its history and its vision for the future.
Brewing brilliance
As part of this vision, Löfbergs is the first coffee manufacturer to partner with the Era of We, intent on improving the overall wellbeing of all coffee farmers. The Era of We is an interactive online platform that connects f armers directly to consumers and coffee
roasters, allowing them to market themselves effectively.
“This platform is highly transparent,” Ms Ljudén said, “and we strongly believe that it has the ability to create a more balanced value chain – giving the farmers more power.”
A new roastery was a welcome addition for Löfbergs in 2021. After several years of analysis and planning, the roastery – situated in the Swedish city of Karlstad – was completed. “I was practically living on the construction site during the pandemic because I was there so often,” Ms Breiling said. “This project was incredibly important to Löfbergs as it gave us the opportunity to really stretch our capacity to better serve our international presence. We also took this as an opportunity to further develop our products, especially regarding whole bean production. This facility enables us to produce an additional 10,000 tonnes of coffee per year.”
The new roastery was built with the highest construction specifications in mind, as a result the facility was awarded a silver environmental building certification. “The new facility was really a huge investment in energy efficient production,” Ms Ljudén said, “this has enabled us to progress our journey of sustainable improvement. We only roast with green resources, such as bio-LPG, and the facility was built with sustainability-driven specifications.
“Over the years, our company has successfully increased our capacity and
doubled production of coffee, without increasing energy usage. The new facility allows us to grow even further, in a sustainable way.”
An added bonus of this expansion is the ability to scale up. The company is incredibly flexible when it comes to consumer demand and has plans in place to further develop this new roastery as and when business requires it.
Responsibly sourced
Löfbergs’ roots in sustainability can be traced all the way back to the ‘90s when the company endeavoured to remove aluminium packaging and entered the organic coffee market.
“Löfbergs did a lot of work early on to introduce sustainable packaging,” Ms Breiling said. “We partly left fossilbased plastics behind, and completely removed aluminium metallisation from our coffee packs. At Löfbergs, we strive for a circular packaging cycle, by using coffee packages that are made from renewable or recycled materials, and which after usage can be sorted, recycled and reprocessed into new materials.
“Also, in ’95 we were the first Swedish company to import organic coffee. We have worked with it for such a long time; organic coffee is in our genes.”
With its success in the UK market, Löfbergs hopes to further expand its brand into more countries and increase its customer base. The company is committed
to achieving this whilst maintaining its essential sustainable corporate philosophy.
“Our overall goal is to be a value adding partner,” Ms Ljudén concluded. “We have great tasting coffee that is excellent quality; we do a lot of work to aid sustainability, but we want to offer something more with our extensive coffee knowledge. To do that, we plan to enhance our customer-focused projects. We do not want to be seen as a mass producer of coffee; we want to continue making products that our customers love, because ultimately, our customers are our strength.”
