Innovation processes in large-scale public foodservice-case findings from the implementation of organic foods in a danish county

Following the declaration adopted at the 1992 World Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, many governments have committed themselves to a common political goal of sustainable development. The declaration points out that both production and consumption patterns have to change in order to reach this goal. Since, in social and environmental terms, one of the most important areas is the production and consumption of food, some European governments have drawn up action plans setting out concrete goals for the conversion of arable land from conventional to organic production. One of the notable emerging areas is the idea that large-scale foodservice such as hospital foodservice should adopt a 'buy organic' policy owing to their large consumption volume. Whereas the implementation of organic foods has developed quite smoothly in smaller institutions such as kindergartens and nurseries, the introduction of organic foods into large-scale foodservice such as that found in hospitals and larger residential homes for the elderly, has proven to be quite difficult. One of the reasons for this is the highly complex planning, procurement and processing procedures pursued by such facilities. Against this background, an evaluation was carried out of the change process related to the implementation of organic foods in large-scale foodservice facilities in the county of Greater Copenhagen in order to study the effects of such a change. Based on the findings, a set of guidelines was developed for the successful implementation of organic foods into the large-scale foodservice. However, the findings and guidelines are applicable to other types of innovation processes in foodservice.