Denmark: Dairy Products are the Most Important Export

Ecological production seems to be more of an obligation than a true passion for the biggest export of Danish organic food. It is true that the Danish-Swedish giant Aria Foods that produces 320.000 t of organic milk from Denmark alone is the biggest organic dairy in the world, but on its home page there is no mention of this fact.

Picture: Danish milk-producers

Even when asked, the company is unwilling to say just how high its turnover is with milk, butter yoghurt and cheese of organic origin. The situation is quite different in the case of its small competitor Thise that relies entirely on organic milk and is achieving good growth rates. At the moment, a fifth of production is exported to Germany, England and Sweden, and the target for the next few years is 25 %. Dairy products constitute a third of all Danish organic exports, whose total value was ca. 33 million Euros last year.  The third largest exporter in this sector is Tholstrup, a conventional producer originally but one which now sells cheese and fresh pasta of organic quality, too.

A tenth of all Danish organic production is exported. Although this is less than 1 % of total food exports, it is significant that 75 % of organic exports are processed goods, whereas the figure in the case of conventional exports is only 10 %. The main markets are Britain, Germany, Sweden and the USA. 75 % of exports go to these four countries.

Meat is the second most important product group after dairy products. The biggest exporter of meat is the firm Friland Foods that exports beef and pork.

DanOrganic, that exports carrots, potatoes, onions and beetroot, and Suprojuice, with fruit juice concentrates, have an important share in the export trade. Of the 48 organic manufacturers who export, these six companies account for more than 60 % of the trade. Other exporters, whose main area of activity is, however, the domestic market, are for example Skee Is with ice cream, and Sobogaard, a company which, with the help of the New York investor NatuCorp, has just introduced its juices (picture) and jams to the American market.

In importing, a significant role is played by Urtekram. The company sells only body care products in Germany, but in its home country it is an important wholesaler that sells goods ranging from food to household products under its own name. Its total range is divided into nine product groups (pictures), with the names Basic, Rising, Snack, Cool, Hot, Herbal, Personal, Vital and Clean Eco. You find the easily recognisable Urtekram packaging, with labelling in three languages, in almost every organic shop in the other Nordic countries, too.

The principal owner of the company that was founded in 1972 is the Canadian-Danish investor Ross Jackson, who caused a stir this summer when he bought the Danish company Nutana that was threatened with bankruptcy. As a manufacturer of vegetarian food, Nutana is one of Urtekram’s biggest competitors, but now the two companies can be expected to work together. The situation becomes especially interesting when you recall how Jackson, who is a big investor in the American organic industry, reported to the press a few years ago that he wanted to hold on to his share in Urtekram only until the company was ready to be sold.

Other important Danish companies in the organic wholesale trade are, for example Aarstiderne (referred to in Part 2), Silhouette (a total of 1500 mostly Demeter certificated products), Naturimporten (Vivani Chocolate and Italian natural cosmetics), and Biodania (fruit and vegetables). The firm Molle Skovly is not only the manufacturer of the high-quality Woodshade Organic Chocolates but also a wholesaler of many other organic confectionery products and of the spreads made by Zwergenwiese. A prominent feature of the Danish market is the mill and bakery Aurion selling cereal products and concentrating on the old wheat varieties such as spelt and emmer (a type of wheat related to spelt).

Tom Krog Nielsen of Organic Denmark estimates that all in all there are 70-80 companies in Denmark that are involved in the organic trade, and 10-15 of these are wholesalers.

Links:

www.arlafoods.com
www.thise.dk
www.friland.dk
www.danorganic.dk
www.skeeis.dk

www.urtekram.dk
http://www.ecoweb.dk

These links list Danish import and export companies and other companies that process organic milk and organic meat.