It is an important goal of the Danish organic sector to increase the export of organic foods by 10 per cent on average each year from 2012 to 2020. Therefore, it is important to gain more knowledge about consumers’ perception of Danish organic foods in the Denmark’s most important export markets.

Today, studies of “Denmark” as a brand for organic food among consumers in export markets are completely lacking. This makes it difficult to handle and prioritize marketing efforts in these markets.

Purpose of the project

The purpose of the project ‘Sustainable Organic Market Development with International Trade (SOMDWIT) is to gain a stronger foundation for the export strategy of the Danish organic sector.

Consumer perceptions of Danish organic foods will be explored by means of consumer interviews, focus group interviews and surveys in four different markets: Germany, France, China and Thailand. These markets have been selected in collaboration with relevant companies and organizations within the organic sector.

Germany is Denmark’s biggest export market and in France, there is a rapidly increasing demand for organic products, for instance organic ham. China and Thailand are not currently important markets for the Danish organic sector, but both the Danish dairy company Arla and the food processing company Danish Crown view China as a very interesting organic market, while Thailand is an example of an emerging economy, which may become a potential market for Danish organic foods in the future.

In sum, the objective of the project is to achieve a deeper knowledge of “Denmark” as an organic food brand on important export markets and to strengthen the Danish organic export strategy based on that knowledge.

SOMDwIT runs in the period 2016-2018.