Serigstad: Say hello to the YouTube celebrity (162)!
Trond Gjermund and his colleagues at Serigstad are fodder experts and YouTube celebrities. The video about the brand new harvester, Phoenix, has 1 million views! And now the company is positioned like never before.
Image: Trond Gjermund gives us a tour of the Serigstad premises. Photo: Frode Sandal
- We were established in 1864. Felleskjøpet, which most people know, is pure youth! They were established 35 years later... We're talking right at the start of industrialization, says Trond Gjermund Haugen, general manager of Serigstad AS.
At its peak, there were 264 employees in the agricultural industry company. The train had tracks all the way into the factory building. In came the steel. Out went forage harvesters. Yes, that's a gross oversimplification, but you get the idea?
- We are experts in silage, forage harvesting and automated feeding solutions. We are now positioned in a way that we have never been before. There is great international interest in the products we supply. Farmers from Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Iceland, the USA and Austria are contacting us to find out more about Phoenix in particular, our new pre-harvesting machine and automated feeding solutions, says Haugen, who has been general manager of the company since 2016.
Feed in focus
At Serigstad, the focus is on the farmer and the feed. The better the quality of the feed, the better the meat. When the quality of the meat improves, so does the economy. A better economy means more investment in agriculture - and the ball is rolling.
- It's about better feed, but also about better soil health. With Phoenix, we can do the job with one tractor instead of two. This improves soil health. We also save fuel, which is better for the environment and the economy," explains Haugen, as we walk around the industrial premises at the Vardheia industrial estate in Bryne.
There is a new optimism about agriculture in Norway. Did you know that the word "smallholding" has been the most popular search term on FINN Eiendom for eight years in a row? In 2023, small farms were searched for almost 600,000 times!
At the same time, there is an increased focus on what we, the nation of Norway, are able to produce ourselves - in a time characterized by geopolitical and security concerns.
And this is where Phoenix comes in.
135 hours per day!
The new harvesting machine, which Serigstad has developed in recent years, revolutionizes forage harvesting. It cuts the grass in a new way - and puts the grass straight into the wagon in one and the same machine. It hangs behind the tractor, not alongside it like a traditional forage harvester. The consequence is better soil health by saving the soil.
One of the Phoenix videos has an incredible 844,00 views on YouTube - and that's no coincidence.
- We have invested in YouTube to show who we are and what we deliver. Serigstad now has over 16,000 followers on the channel, but the most incredible thing, we think, is that our videos are watched for about 4,000 hours a month!
Says Trond Gjermund Haugen, who is convinced that the attention on YouTube will mean a solid boost in sales.
There is no doubt that the Serigstad brand is strong. In recent years, the company has sold merch, such as t-shirts and caps, for around NOK 150,000 a year!
35,000 feed hoppers
- We've hit the market well with several products, and with the forage harvester, Serigstad hit the mark perfectly! To date, we have sold over 35,000 units. At the same time as the tractor was entering the market, the company developed the first forage harvesters, in close collaboration with farmers, industry and research. We're aiming to do the same now, as we have many exciting plans for the future, says Haugen.
Serigstad AS is a member of Nordic Edge's Agritech cluster. Together, we are part of Innovation Norway's Global Growth initiative and will be traveling to Canada later this spring to learn from one of the world's largest food producers.
- We're very impressed with Serigstad, which has very high quality in what it delivers today, while the company has many innovative ideas for the future. Feed quality is important to take agriculture to the next level, and we in the Agritech cluster want to team up with our many talented partners to take new steps together, says Gunnar Crawford, head of the Agritech cluster at Nordic Edge.
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