Connections and Conversations

Aarstiderne - the business

'Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.'

Mary Kay Ash, American entrepreneur 

A farmer, a chef, and the story of the bumble bee they said couldn’t possibly fly…..

That is how it all started at Aarstiderne. Thomas Hartung, a young farmer with an organic family farm joined forces with a young chef, Søren Ejlersen, ready to move beyond the gourmet kitchens to which he had grown accustomed, and together they based a dream, a vision and a business on what can essentially be boiled down to "connections and conversations". 

The foundation of Aarstiderne is a multi-layered one, so in a series of articles we will bring you the story behind, the vision for and the dream of “Aarstiderne". Here is a brief introduction.

A passion for organic farming and a dream of supplying organic goods to a large - and growing - part of the population make up the main ingredients of this story. At the core was and continues to be the conviction that Denmark was ready for a different kind of business, one that was internet based, one that would bring organic products straight from the fields to the urban doorsteps of families and last but not least, one that was deliberately inclusive of everyone involved.

Creating connections between farmers, hand picked to deliver the finest quality produce, and customers frustrated with the quality of supermarket fruits and vegetables, in search of a better yet affordable alternative, continues to be at the heart of this unique company. 

A strong online presence through blogs, pictures, recipes and instruction videos as well as a deliberate familiarity with the farmers, the chefs and everyone else behind Aarstiderne are instrumental in creating the kind of connections across the board that in turn allow for the creation of a strong foundation for the company.

And from the forged connections come the conversations. The opportunity to send word back to the producer, the chance to take a cooking lesson with one of the chefs, the fun of sending your child to a cooking class are but a few of the many and varied ways in which Aarstiderne ensures that all their relationships remain open and inclusive - creating and maintaining a group of growers, sellers, cooks and eaters who all enjoy being part of a strong and vibrant community dedicated to bringing a healthy life style based on sustainable, organic farming to kitchen tables across the country.

[Isabella Mousavizadeh Smith]