What if you grow organic vegetables, but there isn’t a supermarket that wants to put your products on their shelves? Thordur Halldorsson was confronted with that question 25 years ago. With a background in business he decided to arrange his own sales. “We have created our own market. At the start we received orders through email,” says Thordur. “Customers were able to order by email, and it was delivered a few days later.” This basic system still exists, but over the course of the years a lot has changed and more sales channels have been added.
Six years without opening
The capital Reykjavik, where around two thirds of Icelanders live, has only two organic specialty stores. One of them is run by Thordur. The store, Bændur í Bænum (Farmers in Town) can be found at a small shopping centre outside the centre, but central in the town. Six years ago our son who was working at our distribution company at that time wanted to open a Christmas market. This was a great success and the market is still open.
Besides a store, the building is also the nerve centre for the web shop. The email orders from the first years have been replaced by a website. This is done in collaboration with a logistics partner that guarantees delivery within 90 minutes in Reykjavik. Thordur is ahead in the Icelandic market with this system. A good delivery model for customers outside of Reykjavik is still being sought. “We already deliver throughout Iceland, the packages are often delivered to petrol stations.”
Supermarkets
Whereas supermarket were originally hesitant to take organic products into their assortment, the tide has now turned. “We now supply to all supermarkets,” continues Thordur. “We are responsible for the products being on the shelves. If we don’t keep an eye on it, they will no longer be there.” The organisation also takes the ‘bad’ products off the shelves. In the space behind the store the packagings are opened and the products sorted. The good products are offered in store with discounts.
Small sector
Meanwhile, Graeni Hlekkurinn (The Green Link) takes care of the sales of 30 other organic companies in vegetable cultivation, dairy and livestock. The organic production in Iceland is small and due to the low subsidies it isn’t attractive to switch, explains Thordur. There used to be a three million IKR (22.000 euro) subsidy available, that budget has now be raised to 30 million IKR (220.588 euro) per year, but that still doesn’t make switching attractive. Within the greenhouse cultivation there are three companies who produce purely organically. The other greenhouse growers use a lot of organic methods, but aren’t eligible for certification due to cultivation on substrates.
Thordur is also picking up the import of organic products. Importers don’t want to touch it. “Demand is growing quickly. We started with the import of a half pallet, now we are importing a containers per week and we’re not the only ones importing.” He isn’t afraid of another importer moving into organic products. “I look forward to that moment, then my job will be done,” the trader responds. “I went around all the companies at the start, but they weren’t interested. Now they are starting to see that there’s trade in it.”
Thordur is also picking up the import of organic products. Importers don’t want to touch it. “Demand is growing quickly. We started with the import of a half pallet, now we are importing a containers per week and we’re not the only ones importing.” He isn’t afraid of another importer moving into organic products. “I look forward to that moment, then my job will be done,” the trader responds. “I went around all the companies at the start, but they weren’t interested. Now they are starting to see that there’s trade in it.”
