Sustainability at the top of the menu

Fia Gulliksson is a chef, entrepreneur, and speaker who has helped put Sweden—and Jämtland in particular—on the map as a culinary destination. With a strong commitment to sustainability and a belief that everyone should have access to good, clean, and fair food, she develops restaurants and gastronomic hubs where people can meet, grow, and enjoy. We met Fia at HEIM, her latest project in Östersund, to talk about sustainable development, motivation, and gastronomy.

Working with food was not always an obvious path for Fia, even though she early on realized there was something special about her sense of taste.

“Taste and smell have always been my strongest senses. Almost all my memories are connected to flavors or scents. But it wasn’t a given that I would work with food before I started working as a seasonal employee in Åre and in the USA after finishing school. That’s when I ended up in the kitchen and realized this was an industry where you can never be fully developed—you’re always learning.”

Fia turned down studies in economics to instead travel the world and learn more about different cuisines and cooking techniques. She lived and worked as a chef in the United States on and off, and in between she returned home to Jämtland, where she experimented with her new knowledge at her mother’s café, Brunkullan. After two years in Alta, Utah, she moved back to Östersund and began working as head chef at what had then become Brunkullans restaurant.

That Östersund has become a gastronomic destination attracting people from all over the world is largely due to Fia submitting a citizen proposal in 2008 for the city to join UNESCO’s Creative City Network—an initiative that later earned her an honorary doctorate at Mid Sweden University in Östersund.

“One thing I find really exciting is how gastronomy attracts people from all over the world to our region, and how we can use food to introduce them to other fantastic products from here. I’ve always loved Woolpower because it’s a company that shares my core values—focusing on sustainability and local production. When I have guests visiting, I always recommend they go and visit the factory in Östersund.”

One particularly fun memory Fia shares is when she met Elijah Wood. He and his girlfriend came to the area after hearing about the local food scene and wanting to experience the culture. Fia took them to Woolpower—and they completely fell in love with the clothing.

“So now we have to keep sending them sweaters and socks all the time.”

There’s no doubt that Fia is a driven entrepreneur who successfully balances many different roles. According to Fia herself, this comes from her ancestors—women who had to take care of themselves and be resourceful while the men were sent off to war for whichever nation ruled Jämtland at the time.

“The region of Härjedalen/Jämtland has changed nationality 22 times over 400 years. That’s an incredible amount, and the women here have had to be resourceful and creative for generations.”

Today, Fia runs four companies and is also involved in and driving around ten different projects. In addition to HEIM Food Studio, she owns Food in Action, Brunkullans Tea, and The Flowfood Company.

“The parent company, Food in Action, is a holding company that I founded and now co-own with my husband. I also have three subsidiaries, one of which is HEIM Food Studio. I took over Brunkullans Tea from my mother in 2007, and since 2011 my husband Martin manages it. I’m also a co-owner of a Swedish-Norwegian company called The Flowfood Company. There, we produce a completely new vegan raw ingredient made only from Nordic components. It includes algae and ‘ugly’ root vegetables that can’t be sold in stores. It’s essentially sustainable food, combining the best green resources from both sea and land. It’s the food of the future—and I’d say HEIM is like a restaurant of the future, since it has many different functions.”

If you haven’t visited HEIM Food Studio yet, it’s well worth a visit—but don’t expect a typical restaurant experience. When you step into HEIM—which means “home” in the Jämtland dialect—it feels more like entering someone’s kitchen. Large windows facing the street create a bright and open atmosphere, and the first thing you see is the kitchen straight ahead. When Fia describes HEIM, she calls it a restaurant, a development space, a makerspace, and a hub for gastronomic innovation.

“It’s all of that—and why not? It’s resource-efficient. If you build a production kitchen, why use it for just one purpose when it can serve many? Imagine if all school kitchens could also be used in the evenings, on weekends, and during holidays as spaces for food development for families.”

The idea for HEIM came from a song called “No More Blues,” which is about how happiness doesn’t necessarily exist somewhere else. After traveling the world and living in many different places, Fia felt the message resonated deeply with her and inspired her to start HEIM.

“The philosophy behind HEIM—and really everything I do—is that it should be good, clean, and fair. And of course sustainable, and preferably local. I’ve worked with IKEA for the foundation, since it’s actually one of Sweden’s most sustainable companies. Then I’ve complemented that with local craftsmanship—textiles from Frösö Handtryck, local sheepskin from Vamsta, and local ceramics. And of course, the staff wear Woolpower—or ‘the Jämtland blazer,’ as I call it—when we have events or when they’re working outside in the garden.”