We are convinced that nature knows best. Many others may claim the same, but we are the only ones who put that conviction into practice. We are completely unique when it comes to 100 percent organic farming, as we set higher standards than KRAV and allow neither compromises nor exceptions — something we can uphold thanks to the fact that almost everything comes from our own farm. It is not only more honest; it also becomes both better and tastier that way. Once you are here, you will soon understand what we mean. We are like no one else.
Read about our healthy animals here.

100 Percent Organic – 100 Percent Delicious

From the best ingredients comes the best food — this is as true in our kitchen as it is in yours. And the best ingredients are found with us; all 100 percent organic, simply because it tastes better that way. At Ängavallen, we are all guests — you with us, and we with nature. For us, living organically from field to table is neither strange nor new. We have done it for decades, and it simply means embracing nature as a wonderfully balanced whole. Not because it is an end in itself, but simply because it leads to both healthier and more flavorful food.

A matter of course, when you stop to think about it. So whether you choose a picnic basket to enjoy in the 19th-century park, sit down in the restaurant by the wonderful herb garden, stay a night or two at the hotel, or shop in the store, you will experience something that no one else can offer you.

A Dream Realized

In 1971, Rolf Axel bought the farm Ängavallen. Here, he had the opportunity to fulfill his dream of living alongside animals and raising them on their own terms. He began raising pigs solely on a vegetarian diet from the farm and allowed them to roam and root in a natural environment.

Since then, the farm has grown steadily, with cows and sheep, its own slaughterhouse — where animals are slaughtered completely stress-free — and Sweden’s first farm shop, offering the farm’s homemade delicacies from its own charcuterie for sale. The farm also has its own mill, dairy, creamery, bakery, restaurant, café, picnic park, herb garden, and a charming farm hotel.

Our Philosophy

At Ängavallen, we live by the motto “from field to table.” This means that all pork, lamb, and beef, as well as all charcuterie products, come from the farm’s own animals. The animals are so healthy that they do not require antibiotics or other medications and are therefore sold under our registered trademarks HälsoDjur®, HälsoGris®, HälsoLamm®, HälsoKalv®, and HälsoOx®.

Alla våra djur går fritt ute eller inne, året om och så mycket och så länge de själva vill. De får dessutom alla möjligheter att leva ut sitt naturliga beteende, vilket för våra linderödsgrisars del bland annat innebär att de får böka fritt, av hjärtans lust. Efter skörd släpper vi in dem på fälten där de med en högst påtaglig entusiasm vänder upp och ner på alltihop. Förutom lyckliga grisar får vi en jord helt ren från tistlar och annat ogräs, vilket i sin tur helt tar bort behovet av kemikalier. Det är bara att så nästa odling.
Våra grisar är för övrigt strikta vegetarianer och äter, förutom tistlarna som de själva bökar fram, enbart gårdens eget 100 procent ekologiska vegetabiliska foder. Till yttermera visso är det bara de djur som aldrig varit medicinerade som till slut går till slakt. Så när vi säger 100 procent ekologiskt så menar vi precis just det. Inget annat.

Our Linderöds pigs, forest sheep, and Red Poll cattle are old breeds that, over the centuries, have adapted to our latitudes and are therefore able to thrive in our climate. They live outdoors, in our climate, and on what our land provides. This means, among other things, that we — unlike others — have cow releases every day. The cows, like the pigs and sheep, are free to decide if and when they want to be out in the fields.

For the cows, this natural approach to animal husbandry also means that cow and calf stay together for as long as they wish. According to KRAV standards, one day is sufficient — with us, it takes eight to nine months before the calf goes its own way. We also do not separate meat and dairy cows; all are both. The milk we use in the dairy and creamery is only part of what flows overnight — the rest goes to the calf. All for the sake of nature, ourselves, and you.

The Story of Ängavallen

It all began as a story — specifically, the story of Nasse, Tasse, and Lasse: a pig, a dog, and a boy. The adventure was about the importance of animals and humans staying together. The story was published in Sydsvenskan in 1952.

Rolf Axel Nordström wrote the story as an eight-year-old, and even then his interest in animals was great. However, growing up in the middle of Malmö, his experiences of nature were limited to what could be found in the city’s parks.

A few years later, Rolf Axel left city life and began at Hvilans Agricultural School, where part of the training involved caring for pigs. Even then, he questioned how the animals were living. The pigs were often sick and, according to him, lived in an unnatural environment.

In 1971, Rolf Axel had the opportunity to fulfill his dream of living alongside animals and raising them on their own terms — when he bought the farm Ängavallen. He began raising pigs solely on a vegetarian diet from the farm and let them roam and root in a natural environment. This eventually became HälsoGris®.

Since then, the farm has grown steadily, with cows and sheep, its own slaughterhouse — where animals are slaughtered completely stress-free — and Sweden’s first farm shop, offering the farm’s homemade delicacies from its own charcuterie for sale. The farm also has its own mill, dairy, creamery, bakery, restaurant, café, picnic park, herb garden, and a charming farm hotel.

And this is surely just the beginning of the story of Ängavallen, because with the dedication and energy of Rolf Axel and his family, the story is likely to continue for generations to come.

Ängavallen’s Healthy Animals

At Ängavallen, we live by the motto “from field to table.” This means that all pork, lamb, and beef, as well as all charcuterie products, come from the farm’s own HälsoDjur® and are sold under our registered trademarks HälsoGris®, HälsoKalv®, HälsoLamm®, and HälsoOx®. These are original, natural breeds (Red Poll cattle, Forest sheep, Linderöds pigs) that have lived free under the open sky. They have lived good lives and have been raised on the farm’s own plant-based feed, which is untreated and naturally fertilized — 100 percent organic. Natural mating — no artificial insemination. The animals have not been given medications, and they are slaughtered on the farm, completely stress-free and in a dignified manner. You can therefore always be sure that the food at Ängavallen is made from the best possible, completely natural ingredients, i.e., 100 percent organic.

We set standards higher than KRAV (Sweden’s most well-known eco-label for food), simply because we believe that neither ecology nor animal welfare is something you can compromise on. We allow no exceptions.

In the two tables below, you can see the difference between us and everyone else. The first table shows the difference for beef, and the second table shows the difference for pork.

On-Farm Slaughter Completely Free from Stress and Anxiety

Since childhood, Rolf Axel Nordström has been interested in the interaction with animals and over the years has learned everything about ethology, the study of animal behavior. For his efforts to understand how pigs, cows, and sheep live and then raise them on their own terms, he has received both environmental and animal welfare awards, including Djurskyddet Sverige’s Prize in 2010. In 2012 in Paris, we were awarded two prizes by Compassion in World Farming: the Good Farm Animal Welfare Award for Pigs and Good Farm Animal Welfare for Dairy Cows.

At Ängavallen, we are different from everyone else. We have never accepted industrial slaughter*. That is why, together with the veterinarian/ethologist at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Skara, Professor Bo Algers*, we have developed a unique method for slaughtering our animals on the farm that is completely stress- and anxiety-free. Throughout our operations, we maintain higher standards than KRAV (which allows industrial slaughter).

*Read Professor Bo Algers’ statement on the stunning methods used in industrial slaughter in Sweden and other countries:
“Stunning pigs with high concentrations of carbon dioxide (70–90%) causes pain in the mucous membranes and strong, prolonged anxiety reactions. When pigs are stunned with 90%, experimental studies of their central nervous system and behavior show that complete loss of consciousness cannot be reliably demonstrated until 45–60 seconds after exposure. Studies in Sweden at slaughterhouses show that pigs’ anxiety reactions can last over three minutes, likely as a result of gradually increasing exposure in the Butina system. Stunning pigs with high concentrations of CO₂ is an inappropriate method from an animal welfare perspective.”
— Professor Bo Algers, SLU, Skara, Sweden

The principle is that animals not only have the right to a dignified life; when it is time for them to leave it, it happens at the on-farm slaughterhouse in calm conditions. Pigs, cows, and sheep have the same right to a stress- and anxiety-free end as our companion animals. Ängavallen’s state-controlled on-farm slaughterhouse is designed according to the animals’ natural behavior — for example, the animals do not need to be transported there.

A living animal must never see a slaughtered animal, nor see or smell blood, and only when the animal is fully stunned does it enter our state-controlled on-farm slaughterhouse.

Since the beginning, we have used an electrical system to slaughter our pigs, originally developed by a Norwegian veterinarian and a Norwegian animal welfare association, to slaughter sheep without stress.

All our pigs — like the farm’s other animals — choose themselves when they want to go in or out all year round. Usually, around a hundred pigs are in the field, and when it is time for slaughter, they first enter a smaller pen, where they are inspected by a state-appointed veterinary inspector.

At the pen, there is a gate we open, and it is left to chance which pig walks through — entirely at its own pace. We do not influence this in any way.

The pigs are then euthanized by the same stockperson who cares for them daily and whom they know well. Lured by feed and grass, a pig enters the gate out of pure curiosity, and the stockperson does not touch it. Instead, the stockperson follows five to six meters behind as the pig moves into an area completely separated from the rest of the slaughterhouse. While the pig is eating, the stockperson bends over and euthanizes the animal using a tool shaped like an upside-down “V” with a small handle, which immediately renders the pig completely unconscious. Only then does the pig enter the main slaughterhouse. Stunning pigs with carbon dioxide is completely unacceptable from an animal welfare perspective, as the gas affects the pig’s airways, causing an asthma-like condition. Moreover, it takes a long time — from 1 to 1½ minutes — during which the brain’s anxiety centers are activated.

Cows and sheep also go out of the pen on their own. Unlike the pigs, cows are stunned with a captive bolt pistol. We only slaughter one cow, calf, or lamb per week, because the area must be carefully cleaned before the next animal can be slaughtered, all to avoid the stress caused by the smell of blood.