Danish Growth Plan Ready for Food Industry

17 December 2013

Increased demand for food increases global food production, which stresses the need for greater efficiency in production under environmental sustainability. As populations grow, so does the global middleclass and subsequent demand for foods of higher quality. It is the government’s expectation that both production and export of sustainable products, technologies and practices hold considerable growth potential for the Danish food sector.

Increased focus on resource efficiency, including energy efficiency in food producing companies, can contribute to reduction of greenhouse gases and create a competitive advantage in times of rising prices for energy and raw materials.

Resource-efficient food production

Denmark holds considerable knowledge about resource-efficient food production, both within the business sector and the research environment. This creates an opportunity for Denmark to become a demonstration country, which not only benefits the country's national production but especially the export of know-how and sustainable solutions globally, not least in light of the increasing internationalisation of Danish companies.

Water in food production

Eight of the initiatives in the growth plan relate to the area of sustainable and resource-efficient food production, one of which focuses on reduction of water consumption in food production.

70% of the world’s water consumption goes into food production so finding solutions to minimise this amount carry strong benefits, for instance protecting water resources and reducing the water bill for companies, which subsequently strengthens the competitive advantage of the companies.

The waterless dairy

In order to address this challenge, the growth plan grants EUR 1 million through an initiative aimed at developing new water reducing technologies and solutions for dairies:

“Naturally we must not use dirty water for anything we eat or drink but we must adjust to the idea that things can be reused without necessarily affecting the quality. This is also the case for water in food production” says Minister of the Environment Ida Auken.

The project will be managed through a partnership consisting of five dairies, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, the Danish Chamber of Commerce, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, Vestforsyning A/S, six technology manufacturers and five knowledge institutions.

The Danish Ministry of the Environment and the Danish Agriculture and Food Council have calculated that dairies alone are able to save more than EUR 4 million a year if they reuse more water.

The 34 initiatives belong to five areas of focus:

- Sustainable and resource-efficient food production

- Solutions-oriented regulation and control

- Talent, dynamics and export in the food industry

- Growth-oriented food research and development

- Better access to finance

- Click here to read the growth plan as pdf (in Danish)

Source: The Danish Ministry of Business and Growth / The Danish Ministry of the Environment

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