Väddö Gårdsmejeri

We take you on a tour to a Swedish farm!

AInterview & Photography By Amina Touray fter a year of drastic changes all around the world, such as lockdowns, restrictions, and uncertainties, a lot of us got the opportunity to pause, reflect and reevaluate our lives. It was a time when people moved, bought a house, changed careers, built a family, and started working virtually. For me, it sparked a deeper interest in agriculture, which is why a few months ago I went back to my Swedish roots and visited a dairy farm located in Väddö; an island in Stockholm County, and to the municipality Norrtälje.

We’re driving down an idyllic road, surrounded by white snow and beautiful tall trees. The anticipation is big, as we’re heading towards Väddö Gårdsmejeri; A family-owned dairy farm run by farmers Hasse, Yvonne, and their adult children. When we arrive, we are greeted by Johan, who gives us a “behind the scene” tour of where they’re making their renowned award-winning cheeses and other dairy products! We enter the cafeteria, which has a comforting atmosphere, kind of like a grandmother’s living room. That’s also where Hasse and Yvonne are greeting us with coffee and a Swedish-style cinnamon strip. We sat down by the table to chat, and to learn more about how everything goes down at the dairy farm.

As we sit down, Hasse shows me the back of the chairs that we’re sitting on, which has embroidered fabrics with statements like “the king sat here”, and “the queen sat here”. The farm has a fascinating history with royal visitors that I also learn more about.

Hasse - “It was 2013, and they called from the county administrative board because our king was going to visit all of Stockholm’s counties for a special event. I thought they were joking at first”, he laughs. - ”The ones that were responsible for this event had arranged so that the king and queen began their visit at our farm. So we sat down right here, eating cheesecake”. While Hasse was talking about the history of

the farm to the royal committee while the king and queen were visiting, journalists were taking notes, and hundreds of people were gathered outside. On the walls inside the cafeteria, you can see pictures of the royal visit back in 2013, along with other important photos that show the farm’s history. Yvonne explains that she and Hasse have taken a step back, and are letting their adult children take more responsibility for the farm. On a regular day, they get up at 5:30 am to start the day

Their son-in-law Johan explains that this year they have installed the “milking robot” - “Before we used to milk the cows in a pit. So we’d go inside of a room that has a pit where you stand, then you bring the cows inside lined up. We started it in the year ‘94, but this year we have the milking robot. While the cow is being milked, we give it candy, so the cows are all lined up to enter the milking robot”. It takes about six to seven minutes to milk a cow, and you may wonder what candy they get, and it’s grass with a little sugar, which they like a lot. Hasse continues - “so the cow part, and then the agriculture part works well separately. Johan starts with the robot, and then they begin manufacturing during the day”. Johan adds - “once we have the milk, we move it to the dairy and the girls decide what we should do with it (Johan is referring to his partner and her sister that work alongside on the farm). We then move the milk to different pots, we then pasteurize it overnight”. The people responsible at the dairy give direction to Johan on the tasks that need to be completed for the day, which he fulfills so that they get excellent cheese and ice cream at the farm. The cheese is sold in Stockholm city at a variety of stores such as Ica, Cajsa Warg, Urban Deli, and more. Väddö Gårdsmejeri is the first in Sweden to sell hamburger cheddar cheese. They are renowned for their variety of cheeses and ice creams. -”We also have the hamburger and ice cream restaurant here,” Johan says, which is open during the summer months. -”When you have your own animals, you have meat. Elin (Johan’s sister) and Micke suggested that we should start making hamburgers, we got the meat, but since we have a dairy, we have to make the cheese as well. So the idea then was to create a hamburger cheese”. It was great timing as they entered a collaboration with a hamburger restaurant

in Stockholm, and more and more people started taking notice of their cheese. Elin and the people in production created cheese and sent it to the hamburger restaurant. They tried many different flavors, and it took a total of 1 year to make the hamburger cheese. Finally, they had a cheese that everyone was happy with. -”other hamburger cheese that you buy from the store is actually a sauce that is wrapped with plastic, so there’s not as much cheese in it. But our cheese is real cheddar cheese. No one else is making cheese for hamburgers, and in addition, it’s organic. We haven’t found anyone else in Europe that is making organic hamburger cheese, and definitely not anyone in Sweden” Johan states. Hasse adds - “in the past, the cheese has just disappeared, they have thrown on a piece of plastic basically, and no one has reacted to it. So I think we found our niche there”. By this age and time, people are becoming more health aware and want to know what they put in their bodies. Having a great burger includes having a great cheese added. And Väddö Gårdsmejeri’s hamburger restaurant was ranked number 10 of the best hamburger restaurants in Sweden last summer. -”We’re now aiming for an even higher ranking,” Johan adds. All the products that are used to make the hamburger, from the lettuce to meat and cheese are made by the local farmers, which people enjoy.

Seven people are working at the dairy and a total of 11 people at the farm. The work at the farm is split up between sales, dairy, agriculture, and the animals. Although the farm is closed during the winter months, the production is still going on. The farm opens in the summertime for visitors to see the cows, visit their hamburger restaurants, eat their ice cream, and say hi to their animals. They’re currently working on a secretive restaurant, which they are still deciding on what it’ll become, but it’s being discussed among the family members that have many different ideas.

In June 2006 they started the cow-safari. -”Everyone that came to the dairy wanted to look at the cows. People would open all the doors to try to look at the cows” Hasse says. So Hasse suggested building a wagon and attaching it to a tractor that someone drives.

He would then be there and educate people about how things work at the farm while visitors enjoy riding around among the cows. And that’s how the cow safari started! The farm has kept expanding over the years to be able to provide the popular demands. - ”the thought behind the cow safari that we offer is not just to show people the cows, but to explain and show that the milk, cheese, sour milk, and ice cream comes from the same farm, so it’s given us some marketing as well” Hasse says.

The importance of living sustainably is something that many of us have thought about, and possibly even more so now than before. -”make sure that you buy locally. I agree that one should be aware of the climate footprints we make. But the idea of if you eat a soybean that has been cultivated in South America, then shipped to Asia to be packaged, then to Europe to be repackaged, to then reach us, is better than anything that may cost a little more, instead of coming from somewhere closer doesn’t make sense. The accessibility to beans may be a bit limited this season, but then you have animal products that you can produce all year round. Of course, it’s great for the Brazilian farmers if you buy Brazilian meat, but it may be even better if that meat is bought by Brazilians, and we buy meat or peas that are farmed here so that it doesn’t have to be shipped a lap around the world before it reaches my plate”. Hasse adds -”if you buy locally, you keep the landscape opened, but I think there will be noticeable differences in the next twenty years. When Yvonne and I started in 1979 with milk cows, we were twenty farmers at Väddö, now there are only two, everyone quits, because there is no profitability, so the fields are no longer grazed, so the archipelago is on its way to healing up because there are no animals. They have never had this issue before because there have always been animals. But when you buy locally, it supports the workers, so they can continue to have animals in the archipelago, so it’s only a win-win situation. -”The rules are also tougher in Sweden”, Yvonne adds. -”the minced meat we buy from Ireland, we’re not allowed to produce in Sweden, but you’re allowed to buy it at the store,” she says.

Hasse and Yvonne are humble, yet proud of how they have expanded their farm over the years. While there have been challenges, it’s all been well worth it.

Väddö is open for visitors from May until October. You can catch the boat to get there and find ferry tickets via www.waxhilmsbolaget.se. When you visit you can expect to eat great burgers at their hamburger restaurant, with their locally grown food, enjoy the farm’s homemade ice cream, and watch farm animals such as cows, pigs, goats, and bunnies. A must-do to reconnect with nature!

Visit their website to support and learn more: www.vaddogardsmejeri.se