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Who WE ARE - WhAT WE Do AnD WoR

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organic

We are a non-profit organisation for organic farmers, food companies and consumers in Denmark. We connect and represent all parts of the Danish organic food sector – from farmers to consumers, and from re-searchers to companies and supermarkets.

Among our members are over 120 food companies, 800 organic farmers, 2,700 private members and over 10,000 newslet-

ter subscribers. In fact, our food producing members represent 90 % of all Danish or-ganic food production. In this way, we are a major force in the domestic market as well as in national and international politics.

Our organisation, in Denmark known as Økologisk Landsforening, was founded in 2002 when 8 Danish organic organisations merged into one.

Located in Aarhus, Denmark, our 50 em-ployees are leading and coordinating joint marketing of organic food in Denmark. This includes the marketing of the Danish government’s organic label, export pro-motion, PR, political work, and specialist teams working with advisory services on organic farms, in the catering industry and in export promotion.

Non-profit organisation

About Organic Denmark

Organics – a natural part of Danes’ lifeOne of the unique aspects of organic food in Denmark is that organics are for every-one. In fact, over 95% of all Danes buy or-ganic food each year, and more than half of Danes buy organic food every week. This did not happen by accident.

We have worked to make organics an easy choice for Danish consumers - by promo- ting the national Danish organic label and

making organics available in supermar-kets. Because we believe that organic food is the best choice – as they are a guaranty for innovative products, animal welfare, protection of the environment, and strict national inspection.

In this way, organics have become the choice of modern consumers who want the best for their family and the planet.

Organic farmers and producers are the life blood of our organisation, as their know- ledge and experiences are crucial for the fur-ther development of Danish organic food production.

In 8 specialised boards, covering all kinds of organic production, we ensure that the voice of the organic sector in Denmark is heard. These boards are common plat-

Advisory boards – a forum for organic producers

forms for organic producers and other professionals within the organic sector for finding new innovative solutions, develop-ing better products, debating ethical is-sues and finding new markets. Our boards are also internationally active and stay up to date in organic practices; we share experiences with partners, organise study trips and participate in international pro-

jects for e.g. using biomass to recover en-ergy and nutrients.

Our advisory boards are well-respected partners for authorities, organisations, scientists, farm advisors, the media as well as organisations working for the en-vironment, animal welfare and climate.

In addition to spreading new knowledge, we develop and advise on practical or-ganic farming methods in collaboration with farmers, research institutes and busi-nesses.

At Organic Denmark, we have a long tra-dition for advising and leading projects within organic food production and for im-proving organic farming in regards to ani-mal welfare, resource management and optimising production.

One of our specialities is our “organic con-version checks”, where we help conven-

Farm development & Advisory boards

tional farmers analyse and evaluate their personal potential for organic farming.

In addition, we offer counselling for farm-ers of cattle production, including dairy and meat, sheep and goats, roughage and cash crop. And we advise on nature pre-servation, strategic farm development, cooperation between farms and local food sales. To combat climate change, we ad-vise farmers on building biogas plants and on lowering their emission of greenhouse gasses.

Farm Development

Our marketing department works to strengthen the visibility, accessibility and diversity of Danish organics. We are work- ing from the farm to the dinner table — helping farmers and companies to de-velop new products, creating campaigns in supermarkets and bringing consumers out to events on organic farms.

One of the unique characteristics of the

We work for strengthening the position of Danish organicsdevelopment of organic sales in Denmark is the very close collaboration between Organic Denmark and Danish supermarket chains. We advise individual supermarket chains on creating tailored strategies for organic product assortments, sales and marketing. In this way, we motivate super-market chains to be more active in the or-ganic market. Together, we have doubled

the sales of organics within the last 5 years.

At the same time, we advise farmers and food companies on food trends to keep them sharp and innovative. In this way, our product development team inspires pro-ducers to create new products — in fact, more than 170 new organic products were crea-ted and launched during the past 3 years.

The national Danish organic “Ø-la

bel” and th

e EU organic

label.

Marketing Department

Organic market share in Denmark in per cent:

Sorce: FiBL-AMI Survey 2012, based on data from governments, the private sector and market research companies.

Our Foodservice team advises convention-al wholesale firms, catering companies and restaurants on how to go organic. This has tripled organic sales in the food service industry, and brought organic food into lunchrooms, hotels, schools and restau- rants around Denmark.

Besides promoting the national Danish organic Ø-label which marks Danish pro-

Organic share of total market 2010:

6 8 10

Denmark

Austria

Switzerland

Sweden

USA

Germany

Luxembourg (2006)

Netherlands

Canada

France

7,26,0

5,74,14,0

3,53,3

2,72,5

2,0

3,5

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

4,15,3

6,5 7,0 7,2 7,6

(estimated)

8,0

2 40 6 8 10

Denmark

Austria

Switzerland

Sweden

USA

Germany

Luxembourg (2006)

Netherlands

Canada

France

7,26,0

5,74,14,0

3,53,3

2,72,5

2,0

3,5

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

4,15,3

6,5 7,0 7,2 7,6

(estimated)

8,0

2 40

duced organic food, we have worked for the implementation of official organic labels which are awarded to canteens and restaurants that use organics.

Bronze, silver and golden labels are awarded, depending on the percentage of organic food used.

The national Danish organic “Ø-la

bel” and th

e EU organic

label.

At Organic Denmark, we aim to communi-cate the value of organic farming and food for consumers, the environment, animal wel-fare, climate and the farmers themselves.

Our media & members department com- municates Danish organics across the na-tion – in traditional and new media channels.

We have both a Danish and international website. Our Danish website okologi.dk is the place to visit for everyone in Denmark who wants to know more about organics.

Our international website organicdenmark.dk (available in English and German), is our in-formational platform for international visitors.

Our business and private members receive regular updates about organics. Business members receive a weekly newsletter and the biweekly Økologi & Erhverv (“Organics & Business”) magazine. Besides various monthly newsletters, private members receive our quarterly member magazine Økologisk (“Organics”), which focuses on contemporary issues of Danish organics

and presents the newest organic products and trends. Of course, we are also avail-able on Facebook.

Communicating the advantages of Danish organics

AdvantagesWe arrange various events where organics can be experienced with all senses. A major event is the annual Økodag (the “Organic Day”); on a chosen day in the spring organic cows across Denmark are set free to the fields after staying in cowsheds during the winter period. The event is especially pop-ular amongst families with young children, and attracted over 100,000 people across Denmark to visit local organic farms on this day in 2012.

As an organisation for organic producers and consumers in Denmark, we work as lobbyist for the organic sector. We have played a central role in all major Danish action plans and laws affecting the organic sector, and have helped create the world’s broadest organic policies for organic re-search, market development, inspection, advisory services and innovation. We are proud to have leaded the effort resulting in the Danish government’s goal of 60 per cent organic food in all public schools, hos-pitals and canteens.

Events Politics

As in Denmark, we also work internation-ally for promoting the advantages of Dan-ish organics, and we assist Danish organic companies to get in contact with export markets.

For bringing together international super-market chains and producers of Danish organics, we regularly arrange exclusive business-to-business events abroad. When an international supermarket chain is in- terested in trading Danish organic pro-ducts, we assist them by creating tailored products and marketing strategies for suc-cessfully integrating Danish organic prod-ucts into their product range.

We represent Danish organics

Besides arranging exclusive events, we are also present at various international events and trade fairs which focus or-ganic food, such as the annual BioFach in Nuremberg, Germany – the world’s largest organic food fair. Here, we organise and arrange the joint Danish stand for Danish organic companies for presenting the in-ternational public the newest trends in Danish organics. In fact, Denmark was named “Country of the year” at the BioFach trade fair in 2009. Ever since, organic food from Denmark has increasingly gained in-ternational attention.

The high international visibility of Danish organics strengthens the overall export of Danish organics. Especially organic dairy and meat products from Denmark are pop-ular abroad. The main export markets for Danish organics are European nearby coun-tries such as Germany, Sweden, France and the Netherlands.

As a representative for organics in Denmark, we are a member of IFOAM, the interna-tional umbrella organisation of organic agriculture movement worldwide, which has over 750 members in 108 countries.

Our Global Organic Committee actively supports the development of organic farm- ing and production in developing countries for improving conditions of life and the environment in the Global South. Organic farming has the potential to contribute to solve the global food crisis as well as cli-mate and environmental problems.

We support both farmers and businesses to turn to sustainable and organic produc-tion.

At the moment, we are especially focus-ing on our organic partner organisations in East Africa. Here, we partner with the National Organic Movement in Uganda (NOGAMU), and the Tanzanian Organic Agriculture Movement (TOAM) and Kenya Agriculture Network (KOAN). Together, we

International Activitiesrun capacity building projects such as

Farmer Family Learning Groups (FFLG). In the FFLG approach a group of farmers, supported by a facilitator, use organic farming methods to improve their yields and their soil, as well as their incomes, health and security from hunger and ef-fects of climate change.

We also support and advice organic proces-sors and wholesalers in developing coun-tries to do business with Danish organic companies. A pioneer example of business partnership is that between Solhjulet and African Organic in Uganda. The partner-ship was through import of tropical fruits instrumental in developing the exclusive organic Ugandan yoghurts from the dairy Thise Mejeri in Denmark– a huge success.

We support the organic movement

Organic Denmark, Silkeborgvej 260, 8230 Åbyhøj, Denmark, www.organicdenmark.dk

• Denmark is one of the world’s leading countries within the field of organic agricultural research

• The organic share of the total market in Denmark is 8% – the highest in the world (2010)

• Organicsalesarecontinuouslygrowing – despite the financial crisis

• DanesspentonaverageEUR168on organic food in 2011 – the highest in the EU, and second only to Switzerland

• Denmarkwasthefirstcountrytointro- duce a state-rules and inspection for organic producers already in 1987

• TheDanishstatecontrollabelfor organics, the ø-label, is known by 96% and trusted by 90 % of all Danes

• TheDanishgovernmenthasanambi- tious goal for organic food in public kitchens (60% organic by 2020). And a goal of doubling the organically farmed area in Denmark to 15% in 2020

• 49%ofallDanishorganicexportare dairy products and eggs (2011)

• Topexport-countriesforDanish organics are Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and France

Did you know that…?

www.okologi.dk

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