Climate semla on Shrove Tuesday

Sara Idenfors

Those of you who follow us know that we calculate quite a lot about Soapa; we even have our very own Environmental Coordinator who keeps calculating and calculating to find the best possible solution for EVERYTHING. Today, in honor of the occasion, she calculated and made a CLIMATE SEMLA. 

You can find the calculations below, but in short, it can be said that the ingredients milk, butter, eggs, cream, and flour are local—which significantly reduces the climate impact. Then we replaced the almond paste with date paste, and you know what?! It turned out wonderfully delicious!
Dates are easygoing: they grow without much trouble in many places, while almonds are really fussy and require a great deal of water. 

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

 


Climate calculation for 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 positively affects 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 impacts of food.

  • WWF Food Calculator - Food climate footprints. 

  • 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). 


Ingredient 

CO₂e per kg (kg CO₂e/kg)

Source and reasoning 

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 beet is cultivated 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. No palm oil is 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 transport 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, industrially produced)

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 (primarily 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. 

Whipped 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)

50g

0,6

0,030

Granulated sugar (organic) 

10g

0,5

0,005

Cardamom

1g 

5

0,005

Yeast 

3g 

1

0,003

Butter (local)

10g 

6

0,06

Milk (local)

30g 

1

0,03

Egg (local) 

approx. 10g

1,5

0,015

Date paste

25g

1,5

0,038

Whipped cream (local)

50g

3

0,15


20,1

0,336

Total: approx. 0.336 kg CO₂e per semla 




Ordinary homemade semla 

Ingredient

Weight (g)

CO₂e/kg

emissions per ingredient (kg CO₂e) 

Wheat flour (EU)

50g

0,8

0,040

Granulated sugar 

10g

0,5

0,005 

Cardamom 

1g

5

0,005

Yeast 

3g 

1

0,003

Palm oil-based margarine

10g

9

0,09

Milk

30g 

1

0,03

Egg

approx. 10g

1,5

0,015

Almond paste 

25g

5

0,125

Whipped cream 

50g

4

0,20


27,8

0,513

Total: approx. 0.513 kg CO₂e per semla



Climate impact considerations 


  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 irrigation to the same extent. 



  1. Locally produced animal products vs. industrial products 

  • Butter and eggs from a local farm travel shorter distances and have 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 conventional homemade semla. This is mainly due to rainforest deforestation and biodiversity loss. However, its climate impact can 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 portion of the climate footprint because cream is a concentrated dairy product, meaning more raw milk is required to produce one liter of cream. 


  1. Transportation 

  • The climate-smart semla uses more local ingredients, reducing emissions from transportation. 

  • The difference between local and industrial butter, eggs, and almond paste provides 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 conventional 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, you save approximately 1.77 kg CO₂e, equivalent to the emissions from a car journey of about 15 kilometers 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 reduce the climate impact even further, you can:

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

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

 

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