The Danish Whole Grain Partnership was established in 2008. Previous experiences from public private partnerships to increase vegetable and fruit consumption had proven successful, thus the decision to apply the partnership model to increase the intake of whole grain.
Founding partners of the partnership were the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (government), health NGOs (the Danish Cancer Society, the Danish Diabetes Association, and others), the Confederation of the Danish Food and Drink Industry, bread manufacturers, cereals manufacturers, flour millers and retailers.
Over the years, the partnership has engaged in information and reformulation activities in line with a joint focused strategy. The Danish Whole Grain Partnership’s strategy is two-sided: To promote products with the orange whole grain logo with a high content of whole grains and a low content of fat, sugar, and salt. And, to motivate producers to add a little bit of whole grains into a wide range of products without the logo. The aim is to ensure availability and make it easy for consumers to eat more whole grains.
As a result, the intake of whole grain in the Danish population has increased from an average of 36g (2007) to 82g a day (2019) and the availability of whole grain products and knowledge of the health benefits of whole grain have increased. The results are motivating for the established partners and help attract new partners.
To reach out to consumers the Danish Whole Grain Partnership celebrates a Yearly Whole Grain Day every third Friday in January. Inviting everyone to participate: Daycare institutions, schools, libraries, hospitals, canteens, healthcare centers, healthNGO’s, handcrafted bakeries, Government, producers, retailers etc. participates. In 2023 the theme was ‘oat’ and the partnerships succeed with activities in all municipalities throughout the country.
The Danish Whole Grain Partnership was appointed as a Best Practice example by EU in 2019 and by OECD in 2022.
Moving ahead, the partnership will continue to focus on the Danes having the lowest intake of whole grain and on engaging more non-partners in the attempt to reach the average population target of 75g of whole grain per day. And to communicate whole grain products as part of the food with the lowest climate footprint. The Danish Whole Grain Partnership will also focus on promoting whole grains in the Food Service Sector.
