Markets for Bitter and Strong Tasting vegetables and the New Nordic Kitchen

This working report is part of the MAXVEG research project which aims to increase consumers’ intake of a group of cabbages and root vegetables such as carrots, beetroots and celeriac which contain important bioactive phytochemicals.

The MAXVEG project aims to develop new tools and strategies to increase consumers’ preferences and intake of BST vegetables, for instance through new growing, storage and distribution methods, masking or modifying the bitter taste, and new forms of marketing, branding and storytelling, emphasizing the positive health effects of coarse vegetables as well as their potentials in a ‘New Nordic Kitchen’ perspective in which the distinct territorial, local and regional qualities of food products are praised.

The report defines four different consumer markets for food, characterized by different quality conventions and types of relationships between producers/distributors and consumers: Household Food, Lifestyle Food, Ready-Made Food and Experience Food. Based on these four markets, the overall structural trends as well as the sales and consumption of BST vegetables are analysed using statistical data for recent years, as well as opportunities and barriers to using the NNM concept as a framework for product development and marketing.