Södra is owned and controlled by the members
Södra was established based on the idea that we are stronger together. Our cooperative form of ownership shapes our values and our association - an association built by many generations of people. Together, more than 52,000 members own Södra and collaborate to create profitability, find new solutions and contribute to society.
The reason for Södra’s existence is to create the greatest possible benefit for members. The association is governed by active members through processes that ensure transparency and representation. The members actively participate in the association's value creation by engaging in business with their Södra and by contributing to the value we create together.
This is how Södra works
All operations in Södra stem from the members' forest estates. The profits generated are reinvested in our own industrial facilities or distributed to the members - all to promote Södra’s long-term profitability.
You who are a member of Södra are among 52,000 other members who together form Södra. Our common idea is based on collaboration - all with the goal of developing and strengthening Södra's profitability. Södra is a cooperative whose principles are based around long-term member benefits, democracy and collaboration.
Member benefits - The cooperative is designed to create long-term member benefits, even for the next generation of family foresters. The Board of Directors shall ensure that the company's purpose, value base and strategies are based on the will of the members and that the company creates member benefits in the long term.
Collaboration - Members participate in the company's value creation through two roles - a business relationship and an ownership relationship. By doing business with our Södra, we take responsibility for our commonly-owned industrial facilities, and also receive a portion of the value we create together through profit sharing. The principle of equal treatment is fundamental to the relationship with the association.
Democracy - Södra is governed by active members through democratic processes that ensure transparency and representation. The members appoint representatives to the highest decision-making bodies. We follow the principle of one member, one vote.
Södra's mission
Södra's mission is based on its statutes and can be summarized as we refine and renew family forestry.
Your membership and the forest that grows on your forest property are the basis for all value-creation at Södra. Södra's mission consists of three parts: forest, industry and business policy. All parts are important to ensure your forestry is profitable.
Forest
Södra offers competent advice for you to manage and develop your forestry, and buys the timber raw material grown in your forest.
Industry
Södra refines the wood from the forest in our industrial facilities and markets and sells the products all over the world. As a member, you are involved in sharing the profits from the industrial business.
Business policy
Södra works actively with business policy issues. It provides good conditions for forestry in Sweden, for individual forest owners and for Södra as a forest industry group.
Our unique business model
Södra is the bridge that links family forestry with consumers. With constant connection, we work to grow both the value of the forest and the value for customers from the products and services we create. It’s a path our members and employees create together to refine and renew family forestry, day by day. Through the Södra model, each forest estate shares in the added value we create, and our cooperative ownership brings unique commitment with long-term perspective. Our business model is unique and it is the starting point for our strategy.
The Södra model
Södra's economic model for giving members a share in the values created in their own industrial facilities is called the Södra model. The purpose of the model is to reward the members who participate in the association's activities by delivering their raw material to Södra over the long term. The profit sharing gives members a return on both the wood they have delivered in the past year and the capital contributed. In this way, the value of the timber that the member sells to Södra continues to grow year after year, long after the timber delivery has been paid out.
The democratic organization
The members together own Södra, and the democratic processes and the organization create the basis for transparency and representation. The geographical location of the forest property determines which of Södra's 36 forestry areas you as a member belong to. The members are represented through the local Forestry area's council, whose task is to support the operational aspects, monitor local business policy, and who are responsible for various forest and social activities and enact members' instructions.
