Nordic food experiences

Food often plays a major role in a country's self-image and can be a contributing factor when travelers look for a holiday destination. At the same time, the role of food in tourism is undergoing changes, where both food production and travel are affected by changes in the external environment.

How will forces such as climate change, changing consumer behavior and travel patterns affect the production and demand of Nordic food and Nordic food experiences in the future? How can we identify opportunities to advance continued growth, and at the same time promote sustainability and innovation in both tomorrow's tourism and food production in the Nordic region?

These were questions we sought to answers within Nordic Food in Tourism, a project funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, together with project leaders from Matarauður Ísland (Iceland’s Culinary Treasures), Matís (Icelandic Food and Biotech Company) and the Icelandic Tourism Cluster. The project also included an expert group consisting of people from the food and tourism industry from all parts of the Nordic region including, in addition to Iceland, Denmark, Greenland, Finland, Åland, Sweden, Norway.

The project included in-depth research through a trend analysis, expert interviews and a data-driven mapping of the view of Nordic food internationally. Through the guidance of Kairos Future, participating organizations developed a common vision and a number of prioritized long-term and short-term strategies to strengthen the Nordic region's position as a leader in food and tourism. As the pandemic struck shortly after the first workshop, we had the opportunity to jointly explore the possibilities and boundaries of digital collaboration platforms.

"To work with advanced strategy development on Zoom worked far better than I had imagined."
Ásta Kristín Sigurjónsdóttir, Manager Iceland Tourism Cluster

"We are immensely happy with the cooperation, Kairos Future did a great job! Not just the meetings, the report also had a very high quality."
Brynja Laxdal, Iceland's Culinary Treasures & Ministry of Industries & Innovation

"The cooperation with Kairos Future worked very well, everything was insanely well organized."
Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir, Project Manager at Matís ohf/Icelandic Food and Biotech Company

For more information please visit the project webpage: https://nordicfoodintourism.is/