Guild of Food Writers 5th March 2014

Kasper Fogh Hansen – Director of communication

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Our programme this evening….

• ’Food Matters’ – how the food revolution is changing Denmark: Kasper Fogh Hansen

• Danish Crown and new experiments in meat: Rone Stokholm & Kenneth Hansen

• Mikkeller beers – carving out a space for beers n fone dining: Mikkel Borg Bjergsøe

• The food language of New Nordic cuisine: Five course dinner prepared by Claus Henriksen

• Close (9.45 approx.)

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Understanding Nomanomics

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More than just a restaurant….

• Encouraging protection of the environment, biodiversity, rediscovery of nature, sustainable food production and local pride

• Rejecting luxury and pretence.• Supporting and sharing innovation • Creating new food institutions – the Nordic Gene

Bank, Copenhagen Meal House, Claus Meyer and the Opus project, the Nordic Food Lab.

• Fostering a global culture of chefs and food innovators

• Celebrating the unusual and unconventional: Luxury is not the avantgarde

• Changing the way food is produced and sold

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Yes we can!

• New self confidence• From 18 to 140 breweries in ten

years• New cereal mills, new cheese

producers, new dairies – a journey from monoculture to food pluralism.

• New products: cheese, chicken, meats, grains, dairy, seaweed….

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Changing thinking in big business

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And good for business….

• Although overall employment has fallen since 2008, Denmark’s restaurant sector created 5,000 new jobs last year

• Overeas visitors now spend more than the locals at Danish restaurants (€1.4b vs to 1.0 b)

• One in three tourists visit Denmark with the intention of eating at a particular restaurant.

• Copenhagen is the fastest growing ’big city’ destination in Europe (12 % increase in visitor numbers in the last three years)

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And what about organics…

• Denmark has among the highest per capita consumption of organic food

• We have the largest organic dairy and meat companies in the world

• Our organic exports are boomimg• 75 % of all meals served in the public

sector in Copenhagen are organic

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Some lessons we’ve learned….• Welcome outlandish and offbeat ideas• Embrace idealism, otherwise there’ll be no creative

discourse.• Create new institutions - you can’t change the world with a

frying pan.• It’s not just what’s on the plate• Fine dining may be a small part of food that’s eaten but it’s

a megaphone to food culture.• Scour the world for new ideas – somebody else may know

more than you do• Innovate and share your ideas• Trust in skill and competence - don’t just ask people what

they like.• Engage with business and don’t shut the door to anybody

who’s never heard of Michel Bras• Until you change what’s on the shelves in the supermarket,

you haven’t changed a thing.

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Velbekomme!