Statement Company
We know we can make a difference

This is the story behind SoilSteam

Our ambitions are high

We know we can make a real difference to future farming and soil production. This is the story of SoilSteam.

By combining soil steaming with ground-breaking technology, we have created the solution to one of the world’s most urgent problems: the lack of topsoil.

SoilSteam cleans the soil of invasive species completely without the use of chemicals, so it gets new life as vital topsoil. The solution is ready for use, now we have to work together to bring the technology to life. We have made it both profitable and easy to use the SoilSteam products. For you and for the future of soil.

Meet the Soil Team

SoilSteam is growing – so is the team. In recent years, we have gone from being a small entrepreneurial company, with co-founder Hans Kristian Westrum at the helm, to becoming a large, professional team with experts in all our fields of expertise. Committed people who are passionate about making a difference.

Want to join us in making a difference? There is a meaningful and interesting job waiting for you.The solution is here, we are growing fast and need more qualified and enthusiastic people on our team. Read more.


We are facing a food crisis

Soilsteam can be part of the solution.

We’re facing a food crisis and an environmental crisis, in parallel. The world population grows by more than 80 million every year. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, food systems are already exceeding planetary boundaries for key resources. We need to produce more food at the same time as much of the soil is degraded and the farmer’s tools are decreasing.

FAO says we must increase agricultural output while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It stresses the need to encourage the development of sustainable and affordable agricultural technologies – something the EU, for example, has taken to heart in its Green Deal for the CAP, proposing an initiative that will cut the use of pesticides by 50% before 2030.

So it’s time for a change. And now that our patented soil steaming technology has become economically viable, SoilSteam has a great opportunity to help the world in the right direction.

Today, the company’s founders – those three original farmers – control almost 30% of the shares in SoilSteam. The remaining 70% is held by resourceful individuals and investors who see the larger value of providing a sustainable change to soil management practices. It is also held by our employees: mechanics in our workshop, our ingenious engineers, fast-thinking 3D technicians, inspired software developers, and well-informed economists.

Together, this team allows SoilSteam to complete the development and bring our machines to market.

To begin a transformation of the way we treat our precious soil.

Sustainability and Impact

Through our healthy, sustainable soil management techniques, we’re committed to helping society achieve a number of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations in 2015:

UN SDG 2

By giving farmers tools to cultivate more food, improved storage time and less post-harvest waste, SoilSteam is improving agricultural productivity

UN SDG 3

By reducing the need for pesticides and herbicides, SoilSteam is improving good health and well-being.

UN SDG 6

With fewer pesticides used in the fields, SoilSteam can contribute to improving the quality of water sources.

UN SDG 12

The improved storage time seen in fruit and vegetables grown in steamed soil reduces food waste.

UN SDG 14

With fewer pesticides used on the land, SoilSteam can contribute to improving the quality of water sources.

UN SDG 15

Biodiversity increases when fewer crop protection products are used.

Our History

Our story starts in the mid 1990s, when three Norwegian farmers started to experiment with soil steaming.

Developed in the late nineteenth century, soil steaming is – at this time – a largely forgotten practice. Many people think this trio was somewhat eccentric – after all, isn’t anything to do with steam an obsolete technology, like a steam-powered railway locomotive?

Their first machine was completed in 1996.

It was primitive.

It wasn’t easy-to-use.

It didn’t even work very well.

But it DID work.

In fact, it works well enough to provide those three farmers with the proof, conviction, and encouragement they need to pursue their objective: a modern, environmentally friendly soil management process that can remove all harmful organisms from the soil, by using steam alone.

Clean soil. No chemicals.

Staff

Oddbjørn Bergem

Oddbjørn Bergem

CEO

Hans Kristian Westrum

Hans Kristian Westrum

CGO

Adel Samiei

Adel Samiei

CTO

Richard Nilsen

CFO

Tor Aksel Storbukås

COO

Einar Abrahamsen

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Marianne Strøm

Marianne Strom

Senior Agriculture Advisor & Board member

Ben Guren

Ben Guren

Board member

Bård Erdvik

Board Member

Bård Eker

BOARD MEMBER

Anita Traaseth

Board member