Climate-friendly semla on Shrove Tuesday

Sara Idenfors

Those of you who follow us know that we do quite a lot of calculations for Västerbottenssåpa; we even have our very own Environmental Coordinator who keeps calculating and calculating to arrive at the best possible solution for EVERYTHING. Today, to mark the occasion, she calculated and made a CLIMATE SEMLA. 

You can find the calculations below, but in short, the ingredients milk, butter, eggs, cream, and flour are local—this significantly reduces the climate impact. We then replaced the almond paste with date paste, and guess what!?! It turned out absolutely delicious!
Dates are wonderfully low-maintenance: they grow without much trouble in many places, while almonds are really demanding and require a great deal of water. 

We would like to thank Erik Bäckström, a grain entrepreneur in Umeå, his friend Joel, the miller in Skellefteå, the Rural Economy and Agricultural Society in Jämtland, AND Malgomajgården for their help with the climate semla. Last but not least, our CEO, who baked the climate semla last night. 
What teamwork, and what a semla. We reduced the climate impact by 34.5% through this little calculation exercise and by putting the climate semla recipe into practice. 

 


Climate calculation for a semla

 

To calculate the climate impact of the two semlor, we compare the carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e) for each ingredient. We have access to some locally produced ingredients, which has a positive impact on the climate footprint. 


Method and sources 

The climate footprint of each ingredient is based on life-cycle assessments (LCA) and data from the following sources: 


  • RISE Climate Database (2021–2023) – Sweden's leading climate database for food.

  • Our World in Data – Global climate impact of food.

  • WWF Food Calculator – The climate footprint of food. 

  • Swedish Board of Agriculture and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency – Data on Swedish and global food production. 


Climate footprint per ingredient (kg CO₂e per kg of food): 

(The figures are approximate and may vary depending on production, transport, and specific manufacturing processes.) 


Ingredient 

CO₂e per kg (kg CO₂e/kg)

Sources and rationale 

Wheat flour (local and conventional)

0.6 kg

RISE Climate Database, local and conventional flour have similar footprints because yield per hectare is often lower in organic farming. 

Granulated sugar (organic and conventional

0.5 kg 

RISE Climate Database: sugar beets are grown in Sweden with relatively low emissions. 

Cardamom

5 kg 

Our World in Data: spices have high emissions due to long-distance transportation and energy-intensive drying. 

Yeast 

1 kg 

RISE Climate Database: industrial production has relatively low emissions. 

Butter (locally produced)

6 kg 

WWF Food Calculator: small-scale butter production has slightly lower emissions than industrial production because transportation and processing are less energy-intensive. Palm oil is not added. 

Margarine (palm oil-based)

9 kg 

RISE Climate Database: palm oil-based margarine generally has emissions of 9–12 kg CO₂e/kg due to high methane emissions from dairy cows, the negative climate impact of palm oil, and long transportation distances. 

Milk (local and conventional) 

1 kg 

Swedish Board of Agriculture: Swedish milk production has relatively low emissions compared with the global average (2.5 kg CO₂e/kg). 

Eggs (local, small-scale) 

1.5 kg 

RISE Climate Database: small-scale egg production has lower emissions because hens often use feed more efficiently and transportation distances are shorter. 

Eggs (ICA, industrial)

2.5 kg 

Our World in Data: industrial egg production has higher emissions due to feed production (soy).  

Almond paste 

5 kg

Our World in Data: almond cultivation (mainly in California) has high emissions due to water consumption and transportation. 

Date paste

1.5 kg

WWF Food Calculator: dates require less water than almonds and have lower emissions. 

Whipping cream (local and conventional) 

3 kg 

RISE Climate Database: cream has higher emissions than milk because of its higher proportion of milk fat. 




Calculation per semla (approx. 150 g per bun including filling and cream) 


Climate-smart semla (per semla) 

Ingredient

Weight (g)

CO₂e/kg

Emissions per ingredient (kg CO₂e) 

Wheat flour (locally sourced from Umeå)

50 g

0,6

0,030

Granulated sugar (organic) 

10 g

0,5

0,005

Cardamom

1 g 

5

0,005

Yeast 

3 g 

1

0,003

Butter (local)

10 g 

6

0,06

Milk (local)

30 g 

1

0,03

Eggs (local) 

approx. 10 g

1,5

0,015

Date paste

25 g

1,5

0,038

Whipping cream (local)

50 g

3

0,15


20,1

0,336

Total: approx. 0.336 kg CO₂e per semla 




Typical homemade semla 

Ingredient

Weight (g)

CO₂e/kg

Emissions per ingredient (kg CO₂e) 

Wheat flour (EU)

50 g

0,8

0,040

Granulated sugar 

10 g

0,5

0,005 

Cardamom 

1 g

5

0,005

Yeast 

3 g 

1

0,003

Margarine (palm oil-based)

10 g

9

0,09

Milk

30 g 

1

0,03

Egg

approx. 10 g

1,5

0,015

Almond paste 

25 g

5

0,125

Whipping cream 

50 g

4

0,20


27,8

0,513

Total: approx. 0.513 kg CO₂e per semla



Reasoning about climate impact 


  1. Almond paste vs. date paste 

  • Almond cultivation is resource-intensive and has a high climate footprint, especially almond paste from California, where production requires a great deal of water and energy.

  • Date paste has a significantly lower climate footprint because dates are grown in arid climates without artificial irrigation to the same extent. 



  1. Locally produced animal products vs. industrial products 

  • Butter and eggs from a local farm have shorter transport distances and a more transparent production chain, which often results in a lower climate footprint than industrial alternatives. 

  • Palm oil-based butter is one of the most climate-intensive ingredients in the the standard homemade semla. This is mainly due to deforestation of rainforests and loss of biodiversity. However, its climate impact may vary depending on whether the butter is RSPO-certified (sustainable palm oil) or not.


  1. Whipped cream - high impact in both semlor 

  • Regardless of the version, whipped cream accounts for a significant part of the climate footprint, because cream is a concentrated dairy product and therefore requires more raw milk to produce one litre of cream. 


  1. Transport 

  • The climate-smart semla uses more local ingredients, which reduces emissions from transport. 

  • The difference between local and industrial butter, eggs, and almond paste accounts for the greatest climate benefit.  


Results and conclusion - How big is the difference? 


  • The climate-smart semla generates approximately 0.336 kg CO₂e per semla. 

  • The standard semla generates approximately 0.513 kg CO₂e per semla. 


This means that the climate-smart semla has approximately 34.5% lower climate impact per bun. 

For a batch of 10 semlor, this saves approximately 1.77 kg CO₂e, equivalent to the emissions from a car journey of approximately 15 kilometres or a 3 km snowmobile ride.


Summary

The biggest difference comes from: 

✅ Local butter and eggs (lower footprint than palm oil-based butter/margarine). 

✅ Date paste instead of almond paste (significantly lower emissions).

✖️ Cardamom has a high footprint in both versions. 


To further reduce the climate impact, you can:

✅ Reduce the amount of cream or use a plant-based alternative. 

✅ Continue choosing local products with short transport distances and avoid palm oil-based products.  

 

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