Antonia Ax:son Johnson

Antonia Ax:son Johnson ran the family- owned company Axel Johnson AB for several years and she has been a driving force behind the development of Swedish consumer goods and retail. In 1971, she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Economics and Psychology from Stockholm University, before going on to work in the family business. Between 1982 and 2015, she was the chair of Axel Johnson AB. In 1989, she was elected as a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, receiving their Great Gold Medal in 2009.

Antonia Ax:son Johnson’s dedication to sustainability has characterised her efforts as a company director. Back in the 1980s, long before sustainability was an obvious part of business, she launched the concept of ‘the good company’ with a mission to create social benefit also beyond the company income statement. This dedication – especially in terms of food products – also led her to
create Axfoundation in 1993, an independent non-profit organisation focusing on future food and materials.

To accelerate the green transition, Axfoundation works together with researchers and professionals to develop practical solutions to complex sustainability challenges. At the foundation’s Torsåker Farm, sustainable and tangible solutions are developed and tested – in the field, the experimental garden, and the test kitchen. In addition, the farm hosts plant breeders from SLU who are improving agronomic traits of new perennial grains in a long-term field site while Axfoundation explores the foods for which these grains would be best suited. Other SLU research groups collaborate with the foundation as part of efforts to develop more sustainable protein fodder for fish, and to counteract antibiotic resistance.

Press photo

Portrait of Antonia Ax:son Johnson
Photo: Peter Jönsson