Johannas supports the authorities in their efforts to improve permit processes

The team from the Agency for Growth, the Swedish Food Agency, the Swedish Agency for Agriculture, the County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland and the companies: Johannas, Tebrito and Ostrea Aquaculture, as well as the consultants from Antrop..

Laws and regulations are poorly adapted to future food production.

At Johannas, we work with circular food production in closed systems. The heart of our systems is based on a water loop with fish, bacterial cultures and vegetables. Waste from vegetable production is fed to insect larvae, which become the main ingredient in the fish feed. With our system, you can replace an international supply chain with a local or regional chain, with a consequent much lower environmental footprint and at the same time get tastier, prettier vegetables with a better shelf life.

Today's regulations for food production are adapted for a linear food system, which means many challenges when changing to circular processes.


The regulatory burden for innovative companies is large and complex. Bringing about a simplification of the rules is crucial. Our mapping shows that the companies spend an enormous amount of time on contacts with the authorities, there are long response times and it is not clear what is needed to get permission. In addition, the entrepreneurs feel that there are different interpretations of rules depending on the administrator and where in the country you are.
Antrop.

Over the past two years, several authorities have worked together with several companies to improve the permit processes in a project called One Stop Myndighetsshop (Government shop). The project selected four companies in a pilot project where a new simplified process was investigated, where one of the companies was Johannas.

“As a participating company, I can say that this way of working is really needed. The world is on fire - climate change, international political climate that has changed dramatically in recent years, and food security - all this became clear to us during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. We need to get a firm grip and work together to find solutions without getting bogged down in clauses. We have seen that the One Stop Myndighetsshop works. With our design, we have no hindering regulatory requirements left. Now it is full steam ahead."
Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson, VD Johannas.

In our work with the authorities, we have straightened out several question marks about permits and regulations and helped with support to the authorities to understand the problem and how we solve it. We see that the process is significantly improved and we see a willingness on the part of authorities, both local and national, to work constructively to overcome the obstacles that arise.

Read more about One Stop Myndinghetsshop on  Antrop's web page on Tillväxtverkets web page (both in Swedish).

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