Taste of Denmark launches digital marketing platform, web-shop and logistics solution

21 March 2017 - Published by Alfred Kazemier

The food networks in Denmark were founded in almost every part of Denmark by food producers in the year 2000. The Taste of Denmark (ToD, Smagen af Danmark) was founded in 2007 as the umbrella organization of these networks. The networks are associations of food producers and food service companies, and they serve as local market places, as well as networks for sharing knowledge and solutions on the many challenges facing small and innovative food producers. Some challenges are common to most producers and the objectives to meet them can be summarized as follows: i) local identity, ii) collective impact in marketing, iii) sales and iv) distribution.

By Laurids Siig Christensen, Taste of Denmark. siig@horsekaer.dk

These four objectives were integrated in one solution being developed by the ToD and launched in December 2016. The solution is a combined digital market platform, a web shop and a logistics solution, https://smagdanmark.com, which makes it possible for a producer in any part of Denmark to sell and distribute products to consumers and customers in every other part of Denmark. It is a virtual supermarket owned co-operatively by the producers. The consumer is shopping directly with each producer and the palette of products is a variety of food specialties not found in any other supermarket. Marketing parameters include local identity, functionality such as delicacies for diabetics, reduced CO₂ emission of production, nutrient values, animal welfare and other ethical values, etc. The digital marketing platform allows presentation of these parameters at the level of the product, it presents the vision of the producer and it presents the local identity of the food network. Products can be searched based on all these parameters by customers.

The platform includes a B2C as well as a B2B module.

The market platform includes a logistics solution based on a unique combination of a network of inlet hubs and a network of outlet hubs. The protection of the IPR of this solution as a registered trademark in Europe is still in process.

The development of https://smagdanmark.com is not funded by the REFRAME project but it is instrumental in presenting regional food producers and products for public and private customers in compliance with the objectives of the REFRAME project. Among the functionalities of the platform is a GPS-linked App that allows customers, such as tourists, access to the local community of food producers, visit offers, market events, culinary and cultural events, etc.