March 27, 2010: Samsø Grønt celebrating

Samsø Grønt is celebrating the sucessful investment project with a big event arranged in cooperation with Samsø Networking Office. On the picture you can see chef Kristian Elkjær preparing food for the guests.

April 27, 2009: Samsø Grønt on TV2

Samsø Grønt is a popular company. They are invited into the studio of TV2 to talk about the first potatoes that are on their way to Dyrehavsbakken.

2009: The Barbecue Potato

The Barbecue Potato is introduced - and quickly becomes popular. It is faster to roast than ordinary potatoes because it contains less water. Still the potato is very tasty and firm.

”The Barbecue Potatoes can be cooked in ten minutes while you are looking after the meat next to them and drinking a glass of red wine. Ordinary potatoes take twice as long to cook and are often not suited for barbecues."

August 1 and 2, 2008: "Dyrehavsbakken"

Samsø Grønt's annual trip to the amusement park "Dyrehavsbakken". The management, the board, the staff, and other affiliates leave for "Bakken" every year.

2008: Robots increase the turnover of Samsø Grønt

The financial year of 2008 is a record-breaking year. Turnover has increased by approximately 10 million DKK. The fine quality of the potatoes has given the highest average price ever. The investment in high technology already pays off. At the annual general meeting a happy chairman of the board, Jørgen Christian Jensen, and manager of Samsø Grønt, Hans Jørgen Buur, can present accounts which almost make the house applaud. And they are not in doubt: More than 20 years of work on jointly ensuring the quality of produce is a success.

"There was a time when no one wanted to play with us. Nobody would touch us. Now it's the other way around. We're respected - and most people want to take part in the “game”," says Hans Jørgen Buur.

2008: Elizabeth in the machines of Samsø Grønt

The potato variety 'Elizabeth' is successfully sold to specialty shops. The variety was bred in England in connection with Queen Elizabeth's 50th anniversary in 2002.

2007: Nuclear physicist at Samsø Grønt

The investment project takes some of the world's most advanced robots for sorting and packing to Samsø; more specifically to the production hall of Samsø Grønt. But the world's most advanced machines are complicated. Therefore, experts are needed for start-up operations. One of them is a former nuclear physicist.

2007: Sales strategy requires high tech solutions

It is evident that the sales strategy of Samsø Grønt is to sell small lots of quality produce rather than large quantities of one produce/variety. Production must be able to handle multiple sorts of produce during one day. This production process requires advanced technology.

A major investment project is initiated by the production company Samsø Grønt. It is named "New quality potato products in flexible ranges through the use of high tech solutions."

The objective of the project prescribes that:

"... new technology can remove some barriers in the production and thereby create the opportunity to customize products more flexibly and create greater variation in the assortment. (...) "

”A large assortment of special varieties of potatoes in small ranges would be a good complement to the company's two large main products: early potatoes and baking potatoes. A wider assortment would also make it possible to sell to a broader range of customers so that dependency on a large primary customer can be reduced, which in turn would lead to increased competitiveness."

And

"...an investment project that will make it possible to extend the assortment to include several special varieties of potatoes in small ranges with different taste, color, shape and usage. Products must be of particularly high quality."

(Source: Project description regarding the investment project "New quality potato products in flexible ranges through the use of high tech solutions.”)

The project is supported by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and the EU.

August 14, 2004: Samsø Grønt in a helicopter

It is Arne Høy Nilsen's, manager of the amusement park "Bakken", birthday and it should be celebrated. These are the thoughts of Hans Jørgen Buur and Jørgen Christian Jensen. They rent a helicopter and land in style at the birthday party.

"We were allowed to spread congratulations-flyers from the helicopter. On one condition: We had to clean up after ourselves. It was absolutely impossible to control the flyers - so if you're lucky, you might still find one of them lying around in Zealand," laugh Hans Jørgen and Jørgen Christian.

May14, 2004: Wedding of the Crown Prince

Samsø Grønt supplies potatoes for the Crown Prince’s wedding. On the picture you can see Samsø Grønt's delivering the freshly dug potatoes at Amalienborg.

2004: Success with a delicacy

Potato growers are successful with the special variety "Linzer Delikatesse". This potato is very tasty and primarily sold through the supermarket chain Irma.

2002: The board of Samsø Grønt is expanded

The board of Samsø Grønt is expanded with two members who are not growers.

1998: Samsø Grønt first with potatoes in cardboard trays

At a sales meeting with Coop Denmark, Samsø Grønt has a surprise for the chief buyer: Cardboard trays with clean, newly dug potatoes.

The chief buyer loves the product.

A delegation from Samsø Grønt has visited England and learned that the sale of small washed potatoes in cardboard trays has increased significantly in the course of only a few years.

This concept does not exist in Denmark, and Samsø Grønt is at the forefront. It is put on the market immediately. During the first year the potatoes are hand-packed, but already the second year Samsø Grønt invests in equipment that can handle the packaging.

For three years Samsø Grønt is the only Danish company on the Danish market that produces cardboard trays with small, clean potatoes. Then the idea is copied.

June 5, 1996: Cooperation with restaurant "Valentino" starts

"We had been at a fair in Lyngby Storcenter with, among others, Samsø Tourist Agency. We had to wait several hours before we could drive to the ferry. What were we going to do meanwhile?

As a boy I spent my holidays on Dyrehavsbakken and had not been there since. So I suggested that we went there. We got into the car carrying some crates with new potatoes that were left over from the fair," says Chairman of the Board at Samsø Grønt, Jørgen Christian Jensen, and continues:

"When we arrived at ”Bakken", we were ready for lunch. I entered Valentino, a fine restaurant. I said to the owner, Peter Lips, that we were 12 persons who wanted lunch, and that we wanted new Samsø Potatoes! He laughed at me, because he was not able to get the potatoes, and nobody else was either. I made a deal with him: If I could get him some crates of newly dug Samsø Potatoes, he would buy us lunch and liquor. 5 minutes later I placed 3 crates of fresh, new Samsø Potatoes on his counter ... Since then we have collaborated with Dyrehavsbakken and Valentino."

1994: The turning point - Samsø Grønt extends the season

A number of potato growers affiliated with Samsø Grønt leave for a study trip to Nourmoitier in France. In Nourmoitier newly dug potatoes are washed and wrapped in a central unit. Samsø Grønt takes the plunge and buys a machine for washing and sorting the potatoes. This is a turning point in the history of Samsø Grønt. Quality control is even better because the potatoes have been washed – and sorting is therefore much easier.

During the same period members of NordGrønt and GASA Århus join Samsø Grønt, and subsequently improvement of varieties and expanding of the season happen very quickly. Both small potatoes and baking potatoes are wrapped, and the sorting and packing of other vegetables is begun. The turnover shows what has happened: business has increased - and is still increasing.

Read more in the article "We'll do it!"

1989: The manager still believes in the project

After the annual accounts are balanced, it is possible to settle with creditors, and Hans Jørgen Buur knows that Samsø Grønt can succeed. The season needs to be extended, the processing streamlined, and produce must constantly be developed and quality controlled. In collaboration with the board he makes strategic plans for the future of Samsø Grønt.

1988: Door bells are canvassed and shares are bought - Samsø Grønt is established

Many farmers want a central enterprise to take care of the sale of potatoes. Through a central unit potatoes can be sold at predetermined prices. In the late 1980s potatoes are sold at auctions - and growers do not know the price beforehand.

A central unit can also extend the "short season", as only the very early potatoes are marketed jointly at this point in time, which means that the season only lasts for 6 or 7 weeks. With the establishment of Samsø Grønt growers will do joint marketing of potatoes and other vegetables all year (which happened 8 years later in 1994).

In order to develop a business solution for Samsø Grønt the board hires Hans Jørgen Buur as manager.

"He had the skills, visions, and ideas. He believed in the project. But we had to hire him without pay because there was not enough money in our account," says chairman of the board at Samsø Grønt, Jørgen Christian Jensen, with a smile.

Hans Jørgen Buur says that he was aware of the importance of the existence of Samsø Grønt, but it was also a high dose of naivety that made him accept the job:

"People shook their heads at us when we told them about our vision. It was as if nobody would touch us, but we knew that we would succeed, so we kept going."

The people of Samsø buy shares Samsø Grønt is established in an industrial building in Tranebjerg. But finances are low and the board of Samsø Grønt has nowhere to borrow money!

Thus the board decides that 80 people from Samsø must help financing the industrial building in Tranebjerg by each buying a share in Samsø Grønt. Shares cost 500 DKK a piece.

A public meeting is summoned, but the attendance is not large enough. The board must ask friends and acquaintances for help, and also canvass doorbells. And it is successful. More people become aware of the fact that Samsø Grønt is important for growers and for the island.

1565: The potato arrives in Europe

Reportedly the first potatoes arrive in Europe on a Spanish warship around the year 1565 as part of supplies from the city of Carthagena, located in Colombia in South America.

1879: Holger Drachmann becomes ambassador for Samsø

Holger and Emmy Drachmann are actually going to Iceland on their honeymoon, but they change plans when friends and acquaintances allegedly tell them that it is dangerous to travel there. They stay in Denmark and during a cruise on the Danish waters they pass Samsø. They agree to make a stop on the island and end up spending their honeymoon here. Rumor has it that Drachmann compensates for not travelling to Iceland by praising Samsø to the skies - and his praise is heard by his ”fashionable” circle of friends who begin visiting the island.

1890: Wealthy people from Copenhagen want potatoes from Samsø

More and more tourists visit Samsø, wealthy people from Copenhagen in particular. They quickly acquire a taste for the newly dug and fresh potatoes. After returning to Copenhagen from their holidays they send for fresh Samsø potatoes. This is the start of Samsø's export of potatoes. In the years to come, the shipments are systematized, and the potato growers start making business deals with Grønttorvet (a vegetable market) in Copenhagen.

Beginning of 20th century: Sydens Dronning – Queen of the South (the Samsø Potato)

The potato variety ”Sydens Dronning” becomes synonymous with Samsø Potatoes - and it stays that way for many years. This variety is ready for the market early in the year because of the gentle island climate. Samsø becomes well-known for the good and early potatoes.

1963: Growers want to quality control the Samsø Potato

Gentle island climate and good farmland is not enough when it comes to growing quality produce. It also requires growers to have a high level of knowledge, good skills, and not least the desire, interest, and will to continue developing new varieties. This is why passionate growers form an association named "Samsø Potato Grower Association". The purpose of the association is to give farmers an opportunity to share knowledge on cultivation, jointly develop new varieties, and ensure the quality of Samsø Potatoes. It is a success - and potatoes from Samsø become more and more popular.

Samsø Potato Grower Association still exists and cooperates with Samsø Grønt and Samsø Agricultural Association on continuing to experiment with new potato varieties. Every year 30 new varieties are tested on taste and yield, after which Samsø Grønt releases approximately 2 new varieties to consumers.