Born Jonas Toresson (later changed to Alström) in the town of Alingsås in Västergötland, in 1707 he became a clerk for Stockholm merchant Alberg in London. Alberg's business failed after about three years, but Alström became a shipbroker on his own, and did very well.
Eventually he desired to establish industry back home, and in 1724 established a woolenfactory in his native village, which became profitable after some initial difficulties. He then established a sugar refinery in Gothenburg, encouraged improvements in potato cultivation, tanning, cutlery, and shipbuilding.
Although Alströmer was pivotal in popularizing the cultivation of potatoes, the popular idea that he was responsible for introducing the potato in Sweden is a myth, as potatoes were grown in the Uppsala Botanical Garden (in what is now the Linnaean Garden) by Olaus Rudbeck in 1658, before Alströmer was even born.[1] Nevertheless, Alströmer himself maintained that he had brought the potato to Sweden,[2] and his name has remained closely associated with potatoes.[3]