Joint Research Maps Local Gastronomic Potential for Danish Terroir

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Photo credit: Nicolai Perjesi

Joint Research Maps Local Gastronomic Potential

Looking ahead for new business opportunities is a prerequisite for a market-relevant and economically feasible agriculture. A new joint research project is mapping an exciting potential and will assist in action.

The balance between financial and environmental sustainability is always a challenge for the food sector. This balance – complying with political demands and structural challenges, alongside the development of economically sound farms – requires innovative and ‘thinking-beyond-the-box’ solutions.

Even in a small country like Denmark, diverse physical and cultural conditions for agriculture is evident. This suggests a potential for new products through a systematic approach to developing provenance foods. That is, location-specific produce and products reflecting the local or regional, distinctive characteristics ­– in short, the Danish terroir.

Mapping the potential

However, key knowledge gaps hindering a coordinated, strategic approach to a provenance food sector development have been identified. As a result, a new strategy is emerging within the Danish food cluster. At Aarhus University, the Department of Agroecology and Department of Management have joined forces with local authorities and private partners in the Provenance DK research project.

Even in a small country like Denmark, diverse physical and cultural conditions suggest a more systematic focus on developing provenance foods

The goal of the project is to address this knowledge gap and to identify potentials for terroir brands to develop by mapping the specific opportunities for a Danish provenance food sector.

From words to action

When complete, the project team will have produced a Danish food atlas – an ‘Atlas of Opportunities’ – complete with printed maps and a web-based platform that show the potential for a specific product within a certain area. Further, the project will also provide inputs to new business models for local foods and assist the coordination between food networks, producers and municipalities.