To get inspiration for business ideas, Treasure hunt project partners visited agritourism entrepreneurs during the project meeting in Sweden. The study visits had the idea of visiting a small business, a bigger, more established business and at least one with accommodation.
We started with Pelles I Sunnaryd (pellesisunnaryd.se), where Lisa welcomed us to present her Alpacas and other acitivities at their family farm. We had new knowledge of the Lama animal called alpacka. Lisa told us fun facts like: Alpacas use toilet areas, both inside and in pastureland. Alpacas are not really an animal to cuddle. The whole animal is used, like their meat and fur, when their time is up at the farm.
A nice cottage where Lisa lit a bonfire where much appreciated. “How to light a bonfire”, “Insect safari” and “Traditional coffee-boiling” were examples of activities offered at Pelles I Sunnaryd. Pelles I Sunnaryd is a part time farm, where the whole family are involved.
To have a clear picture of a business that has been evolving for 30 years, we visited Öströö fårfarm ostroofarfarm.com. An ecological sheep farm with café, restaurant, slaughterhouse, large farm-shop with meat, fur and much more. Kristian told us about their history. A popular activity is their lamb-safari, where visitors pay to get on a tractor wagon to go to the pastures and get information, fun facts and of course, a tractor ride. Like Kristian puts it: “Customers pay to hear me explain my job”. When the tour is ready, there are many opportunities to have Swedish fika, or buy a sheepskin. When we visited in April, lambing season were about to begin, and their 8 employees will get really busy. In high season there are even more employees to handle all visitors. During Covid-19 pandemic Öströö sheepfarm increased visitor rates because of the possibility to serve customers outside in a large garden area. Inspired from this diverse business with many opportunities and developments during the years we could see for ourselves the many opportunities for an agritourism business.
Our last stop in our treasure hunt was for Erikson cottage, eriksoncottage.com. Accommodation with optional activities, a business that two sisters, Elisabeth and Katarina, runs. Their family farm with forests and a lake is their base. They both left their previous careers to follow their dream. We were able to have a look at one of the lovely glass cabins by the lake before we tried the activity “Learn how to make a sour-dough Neapolitan style pizza”. Many laughter’s later we were able to eat our own made, delicious pizzas. As much as the pizza making impressed us, we also cherished the warm hospitality from Elisabeth and Katarina. A very important thing that we bring into the project, the importance of making the guests feel comfortable and content.
These businesses really is successful because they rely on their personal skills, knowledge and a special skill to identify and capitalize their own, and their farms´ strengths. That is an important key. Many thanks to Lisa, Kristian, Elisabeth and Katarina!
