Denmark is an ancient agricultural country with rich traditions, but consumers, who put health, the environment and animal welfare at the forefront when shopping, are now challenging conventional farming.
Danes have become mass-comsumers of organic products, which have risen with 83 per cent from 2003 till today. Denmark sells more organic products per capita than any other country in the world. Organic milk has a market-share of 35 per cent in Denmark.
Denmark was the first country in the world to establish governmental rules for organic production and an efficient state-control of organic foodstuffs and producers. Producers who fulfil the strict criteria can sport the well-respected Ø-mark on their products.
Public authorities also support the organic sector by special green purchases and organic food for retirement homes, schools and other institutions such as nurseries and borstals.
The Danish retail sector already took on organics in the 1990s and now all supermarkets offer a great variety of organic products. Thus Danish consumers do not need to go to speciality stores or farm-shops to buy organic produce – they can find it all in their supermarket.
In recent years, as much as 52 percent more new organic products has found their way to retail shelves.
Denmark is one of the leading countries in terms of research into organic farming, which directly benefits producers.
Together with the development of renewable energy sources, the introduction of environmental policies and energy-research, the organic movement contributes to making Denmark a green and healthy country.
