Thesis

Cuisine is a very versatile and a flexible word. The cuisine word came from the French, comes from the same Latin roots which gives the similar to the Spanish word cocina which means kitchen (CulinaryLore, 2012). The cuisine word simply means a style of cooking (CulinaryLore, 2012). The history of cuisine is different in different countries and different continents. The taste of foods varies place to place. The different popular cuisines are Asian, Indian, African, middle eastern, Japanese, Mediterranean, etc. The Indian cuisine are diverse use spices (Schinkel, 2013). The diversity of spices has been the foundation of Indian cooking Schinkel, 2013). The Mediterranean cuisine has roots from countries and cultures on the Mediterranean Sea Schinkel, 2013). Use of different herbs, olives and vegetables are major ingredients; however, it varies on countries and the culture (Schinkel, 2013). Food is basic needs for human beings. It is a big part of human life.

Denmark is a Nordic country in Northwest Europe consist of a peninsula and different islands such as Zealand, Funen and Jutland. The Danish tourism market is quite famous as it attracts millions of tourists every year. According to the Statista (2019), about 2.2 million of tourist visited Denmark in 2019 and contributes a large amount of GDP of a country which is 168.1 billion. The Danish tourism generates 118,000 full time jobs, accounting for 4.2% of total employment (OECD, 2018). The country’s historical places, beaches, museums, castles, local food, etc. grab the attention of many tourists every year Tourism sectors covers a large portion of economics of a nation. People travel from one place to another for various region such as explore culture, taste local food, business, etc. According to Ugurla (2010), "tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries which deliver a travel experience comprising transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups traveling away from home”. Local food plays an essential role for the tourist attraction. People who travels are always interested on testing the locally produced food. It adds some great experience on their travels. People spend a lot of money on food on their travel and it would impact on both government and the local business. The attraction of tourist towards the local food would promote their cuisine as well as the tourist destination.

Similarly, the New Nordic Cuisine has been popular in the Nordic countries from last few years. The New Nordic cuisine was invented in the Nordic region, particularly in Denmark by the chef Rene Redzepi and the food entrepreneur Claus Meyer (Sundbo & Sorensen, 2013). Redzepi and Meyer described New Nordic Cuisine as a purity, simplicity and freshness.

New Nordic cuisine was invented in the Nordic region, particularly in Denmark by the chef Rene Redzepi and the food entrepreneur Claus Meyer (Sundbo & Sorensen, 2013). They described it as a purity, simplicity and freshness. It emphasizes the locally grown ingredients and seasonal product from the Nordic Territory with the quality of cooking style. Sundbo & Sorensen (2013) mentioned that, the reason behind it calling the New Nordic Cuisine is due to the adaptation of serving uncooked plants and flowers, the reintroduction of old methods of preservation and the adaptation of molecular gastronomy. Similarly, tourism is interrelated to the food industry of any country.

The Encyclopedia Britannica (as cited in Kivela & Crotts, 2005) states that gastronomy is all about the art of selecting, preparing, serving, and enjoying fine food. It is about dealing with a food with a quality. Gillespie (as cited in Kivela & Crotts, 2005) mentioned that “gastronomy is about the recognition of a variety of factors relevant to foods and beverages eaten and consumed by a group, in a locality, religion or even a nation”. The gastronomy sector is very important and deeply related to the tourism sector of the country. Whenever tourist think about any destination, they consider about enjoying the local food of the place. With the context of New Nordic Cuisine, Copenhagen has been succeeding and ranked as a top place in the gastronomy field as some restaurants has been awarded under 50 best restaurants in the world. The Noma and Geranium from Copenhagen has been listed the 2nd and 5th best restaurant in the world respectively which draws the lots of attention from all over the world (50best, 2019). Denmark holds total of 33 Michelin stars. This could clearly say that the New Nordic Cuisine has gone too far. The gastronomy of Denmark is very popular as so may cooking competitions held and also participates from Denmark such as Bocuse d’or. It all helps to popularize the Danish food market. This shows the relationship between the popularity of New Nordic Cuisine and the popularity of Danish culinary market for tourism. The local food of a particular place represents its unique culture and local experiences. Tourist are always seeking for the unique local experience and the local food of the particular places they travel. In the context of New Nordic Cuisine, the local, seasonal, unique way of preserving food can attract the tourist.

In addition to, adopting the seasonal and locally grown ingredients promote the sustainable business as well. The New Nordic Cuisine has the manifesto of promoting seasonal and local fresh ingredients (Leer, 2016). Macdiarmid, 2014 states that he food that are grown seasonal and promoting local food reduces the green house gas emission. According to the Statista (2019), millions of tourist travel to Denmark every year which has a great impact in the economy of the country. The classical Danish cuisine such as Danish hot dog, Frikadeller, smorrebrod (open sandwich), Flaeskesteg, etc. are the popular Danish local food. The New Nordic Cuisine has completely changed the concept of food. The motivation of conducting this research is the uniqueness of New Nordic Cuisine and how it impacts on the tourism of Denmark. The popularity of cuisine, its uniqueness, the presentation of the dish motivates me to do further research on its impact to the tourism of a country.

Denmark attracts millions of tourists every year and how does its foods impact on it. Denmark is beautiful country with the development of infrastructure and its history. The country’s historical places, beaches, museums, castles, local food, etc. grab the attention of many tourists every year. There have been millions of tourist flow in Denmark but what drives the tourist to Denmark? The New Nordic Cuisine was initiated in 2004 with a manifesto proposing a cuisine based exclusively on products from the Nordic terroir (Leer, 2016). The promotion of local and season food is the main idea of New Nordic Cuisine. Many people often find the New Nordic Cuisine expensive as it is cooked and prepared in a high-quality standard. The motive of this thesis is to investigate the New Nordic cuisine and its contribution to tourism. However, is there any relation between Nordic food and tourism? There is big gap in relation to Nordic food and the tourism. This research will expect to fill out the gap between Nordic Cuisine and Tourism.

The aim of this research is to find out how does the New Nordic Cuisine contributes to tourism industry.

1. How does the New Nordic cuisine attract tourists to Denmark?

2. What is the perception of tourist about the Nordic cuisine?

The study is divided into five different topics with heading and subheadings. The chapter 1 is the introduction part which describes the Danish tourism market and its background. The background of the study part explains the introduction and the history of the New Nordic Cuisine and its concept. As part of the thesis, the introduction part contains the background of the thesis, problem statement, research questions and objectives.

The gastronomy topic is a single word of representing a food industry of a society, ethnicity, group, country or a region. Every country has its own special history of gastronomy industry. Experiencing a gastronomy is the core part of any travel where tourist pays very close attention to the local and gastronomy propositions in order to meet expectations (Burkharov & Berezka n.d.). Kivela & Crotts (2005) claims that, the word culinarian is used as a synonymously with gastronomy and it often describe as a country`s or region`s dishes, food, and food preparation techniques. Therefore, Long (as cited in Kivela Crotts, 2015) argues that culinary tourism is all about experiencing other cultures through food. Wolf (as cited in Kivela & Crotts, 2005) defined gastronomy industry as travelling to a particular region for the purpose of exploring and enjoying their food and beverage and to savour unique and memorable gastronomy experiences. Kivela & Crotts (2005) claims that, the gastronomy has played a great role for advertising and the marketing some tourist destinations. Some travel organization offers gastronomy holidays to Asia, Italy, and France (Kivela & Crotts 2005). People on a holiday dine out for the experience of new cuisine and new taste. It adds up more experience on their journey. When people choose their travel destination, they consider several factors. It includes the geography of a place, local food, nature, culture, social infrastructure. The local food always takes a major role on choosing a destination. For any destinations, their gastronomy plays a central feature of the tourist attraction because the destination provides the unique food, recipes, chefs, and the cultural backdrop that makes gastronomy an idea product for tourist consumption (Kivela & Crotts, 2005).

Hall et all., Kim et all. & Leong et al. (as cited in Burkharov & Berezka, 2018) states that, tourist seeking gastronomy values are not only hoping to satisfy their physical needs by consuming the food but also seeking unique local culture and social experiences as they taste the local regional cuisine with the local specialities and the flavour and they appreciate the local lifestyles from a gastronomic perspectives. Hall et all, Kim et all & Leong et al (as cited in Burkharov & Berezka, 2018) claims that gastronomy tourism adds up attractiveness on tourist destinations and tourism value which contributes to sustainable tourism development. Burkharov & Berezka (2018) mentioned that, the concept and identity of local specialities plays a great role in order to develop a particular destination as a gastronomy hub. It includes raw materials, preparation of products, dishes, recipes and the origins. In the context of New Nordic cuisine, its manifesto could play a great role in order to promote a destination for the gastronomy hub. For this, there should be more producers to produce high quality food products that provides a basis for the development of local cuisine based on the traditional dishes using local ingredients and local preparing methods and techniques (Burkharov & Berezka 2018). To create a gastronomy value proposition for tourist, the traditional dishes can be newly interpreted based on the changes in the lifestyle, behaviour, preferences and in a creative way by chef (Burkharov & Berezka 2018). This is exactly how it works in the case of New Nordic Cuisine. The cuisine has done and presented in a creative way to the traditional dishes using very local and seasonal ingredients.

According to Pyo et all. (as cited in Canizares $ Canalejo, 2015), there are studies which conforms that eating is the less activity where tourists are less likely to reduce their holiday spending. Richard (as cited in Canizares $ Canalejo, 2015), states that tourist prioritize their visit destination by carefully selecting restaurants or foods that will satisfy personal preferences. The certain unique dishes could be the pull factor of marketing tools for the gastronomy tourism. Some countries in the world has a huge figures of gastronomy tourism. They generate big figures of capitals from food tourism. Culinary Tourism (as cited in Canizares $ Canalejo, 2015) claims that, the UK alone generates about eight billion dollars’ worth capital per year. It clearly says that most tourist on their travel would like to dine and experience the gastronomy of the destination. There are large number of gastronomy tourism in different countries. The different tourist has different objectives of travelling the destination however, the local cuisine and local food takes a huge space on tourist preference.

Leer (2016) states that, the New Nordic cuisine was introduced in 2004 with a manifesto proposing a cuisine based on product produced from Nordic region. The founder of the New Nordic Cuisine is food entrepreneur Claus Meyer and famous chef Rene Redzepi (Sundbo & Sorensen, 2013). The New Nordic cuisine applies in the Nordic region. The chefs from the region have started and rediscovered local produced food beyond the characteristics (Byrkjeflot, Pedersen $ Svejenova, 2013). The region has a tradition of consuming a smoked salmon, marinated herring, rye bread, etc. The New Nordic Cuisine was an identity movement as it was triggered by the active involvement of entrepreneur leaders from the culinary profession, high-profile political support (the Nordic Council of Minister and the national minister), scientists and audience (foodies and others) (Byrkjeflot et al, 2013).

According to Byrkjeflot at al (2013) states that the New Nordic Cuisine was developed under 3 different mechanisms. First, the emergence of restaurant Noma by food entrepreneur Claus Meyer and chef Rene Redzepi who aimed to change the food in Denmark and to redefine Nordic food (Byrkjeflot, et al, 2013). Also, Skyum-Nielsen, 2010 p.11 (as cited in Byrkjeflot et al, 2013) mentioned that the restaurant building plays a significant role to reflect the North Atlantic cuisine due to the location of the building and its history. The building is located at the Copenhagen harbor area and called the North Atlantic house which used to be a former 18th century warehouse and it turned into a cultural centre for the North Atlantic region (Byrkjeflot et al, 2013). After opening the restaurant Noma, food entrepreneur Claus Meyer and chef Rene Redzepi organised a conference and brought different gastronomic leading entrepreneurs and the chefs from the Scandinavian countries and signed a manifesto of New Nordic Cuisine (Byrkjeflot et al, 2013). According to Byrkjeflot et al, (2013), the purpose behind the manifesto was to use and promote the local, original food culture and it also associates with the purity, freshness and simplicity; with local, seasonal ingredients from the Nordic terroir; and with a healthy, green, and environmentally friendly profile. Second, legitimation which means the professional project of political and public servants across the Nordic countries. The project held from 2006 to 2006 which gives a unique opportunity for branding and bosting Nordic region and the New Nordic Cuisine through policies and incentives (Byrkjeflot et al, 2013). Third, the contested expansion (2007-2010) brings incentives that encourage and attracted entrepreneurs to bring strategies and concrete projects that are related to New Nordic Cuisine (Byrkjeflot et al, 2013). Byrkjeflot et al (2013) states that the projects went as a professionally and reached out to politics and school project through Nordic food. This is a little background of the New Nordic Cuisine. The process of formation of New Nordic Cuisine and how the project went success in the Nordic territory.

Leer (2016) summarise that, the whole idea of the New Nordic Cuisine to express the purity, freshness and the ethics associated with the Nordic region. He also adds that the New Nordic Cuisine aims to reflect the changes on season meaning, using seasonal grown products. At last, the New Nordic Cuisine concerns the use of ingredients and produce a food that are particularly excellent in Nordic territory (Leer, 2016). In this journey, the different top restaurants like Noma (Copenhagen), Faviken (Sweden), etc has set a Nordic region in to the culinary map of the world. This idea of New Nordic food rediscovering, rethinking, promotes a Nordic food and its cultures (Leer, 2016). This will definitely impact in the tourism sectors as well. The promotion of New Nordic Food would promote its Nordic culture and traditions (Leer, 2016). Here, the promotion of local region food is the promotion of culture and tradition internationally. This could be a great opportunity for the tourism market.

Food is a basic need of human beings. According to Horn &Tsai, 2010 (as cited in Guzel & Apaydin, 2016) mentioned that gastronomy tourism plays a significant role to attract international tourists. Guzel & Apaydin (2016) summarise that food is also a part of local culture which helps for the growth of economics by the eating habits of tourists. Besiere, 1998 (as cited in Guzel & Apaydin, 2016) states that, local food is an iconic product of a specific region. In the context of New Nordic Cuisine, the food can be unique to represent the Nordic region for the tourist. This can be a motivation for the tourist and a tool for the promotion of the food tourism of Nordic region. However, the decision or the pull factors for the destinations from tourist sides remains with them. A report by Enteleca Research and Consultancy, 2000 (as cited in Guzel & Apaydin, 2016) explained local food as a food that is typically from a specific region and has not imported from another region. As people are more concern about their health, they would like to have an overview of what’s in their plate. The local and sessional food are always considered as good for health and environment. Guzel & Apaydin, (2016) mentioned that the locally grown and produced food has a good quality. Tourist seeks an experience when it comes for the local food and the taste. The meaning of the cuisine adds more value in it. Guzel & Apaydin (2016) pointed out that, tourist who are looking for the meaning, authenticity and the story of local cuisine are not only consuming food but also, they are consuming the meaning of it. The tourism sectors contribute a lot in the economy of a particular nation. The tourism sectors could include different tourism activities like sports tourism, events tourism, cultural tourism, etc. Food tourism is one of them and it is booming day by day. Guzel & Apaydin (2016) concluded that local food can be used as a weapon for the marketing tools of a nation and can impact economically.

The time has created more value and importance of local food in a tourism industry. Bjork & Raisanen (2017) notes that the local food can help for the development of region, promotion of restaurant, hotel and the destination. The many countries are characterised by its unique regional and national cuisine as tourist are showing more interest in locally grown and produced food (Bjork & Raisanen, 2017). Different tourist has different perception about the local food. Some people are more concern about the health and its impact on society and environment. Pearsen et al.,2011(as cited in Bjork & Raisanen, 2017) mentioned that people are concerned about the impact of food on environment and they want to consume local food to support the local community and the farmers. The reason of mentioning the importance of local food is to show a relationship of tourist’s perception towards the local food of a destination country and its role in a society and a country. Bjork & Raisanen (2017) clarify that the local food is a gateway to understand the intangible heritage, culture, local food and drinking culture of the destination. The different cultural sites, historical museum, Viking culture, identical food and drink culture of Denmark could influence lots of tourists to visit Denmark. However, it could depend on the status of tourist and their perception towards the destination. Sims, 2009 (as cited in Bjork & Raisanen, 2017) mentioned that local food can be used as tools of promotion of a region and also helps in the sustainable regional development and its tourism. Bjork & Raisanen, (2017) finds that the local regional food are source of consuming local culture and pleasure and also some portion of tourists are engaging in search of new and unique food together with its importance. Here, in this literature part, I am trying to relate how the local food impacts on society and a nation. I assume this would give an idea of how local cuisine (New Nordic Cuisine) plays a role on branding of Danish cuisine and tourism. This is a link of tourist to local cuisine and its outcomes to destination’s tourism industry and society.

The nomination of NOMA as the best restaurant in the world in 2010 has caught the attention of the culinary scenario of Copenhagen (Ooi & Pedersen, 2017). The success of New Nordic Cuisine has made the Copenhagen into a food destination and a set an image of Denmark as well as Nordic region (Ooi & Pedersen, 2017). The success of New Nordic Cuisine has attracted the attention of different international media and Rene Redzepi became a major celebrity in the culinary field (Ooi & Pedersen, 2017). According to Wolff (as cited in Ooi & Pedersen, 2017) the New Nordic Cuisine has been compared to different world`s established cuisine such as French and Spanish cuisine and mentioned that the New Nordic Cuisine creates a link to the nature. The different factor affects the perception of gastronomy tourist and tourist could react on its basis. The social status and the wealthiness of the society could also consequence its gastronomic identity for the tourist (Guzel & Apaydin, 2017). According to Ooi & Pedersen (2017), Copenhagen’s food culture is promoted through various events such as street food, festivals, dinning week etc. The second challenge is the local turn using local and seasonal produces as the main focus in the new Nordic Cuisine movement. The idea of local cuisine highlights the uniqueness of the place. According to Ooi & Pedersen (2017), not only food and food related activities are relevant for tourism and its development, but also existing food and drink activities can be detrimental to the destination images. The rich nature of island, different culture heritage and fine culinary resources has grabbed the attention of Nordic food Industry (Ooi & Pedersen, 2017).

culture, different castles and cultural sites assert the unique and authentic identity to the place. This helps on the branding of tourism of the city. The research of Ooi & Pedersen (2017) highlights some points which says that not only New Nordic Cuisine can brand the city for the tourist. There are some factors that could raise challenges and questions. Even though the New Nordic Cuisine is popular it does not only represent Denmark. Copenhagen is the part of the Nordic territory, but the cuisine represents the Nordic region and its unique food ingredients. Second, the main concept of Nordic Cuisine is to use the seasonal and local ingredients and it cannot neither be unique nor authentic as different country does it and can simply be applied in any region (Ooi & Pedersen, 2017). This could raise a challenge to brand the destination as a gastronomy. Denmark lunched different public events related to food for the promotion of its destination. Moskin (2011) mentioned that Denmark lunched large-scale event called ‘FoodCamp’ with the huge amount of financial support from Nordic tourism and business. The whole idea of it was to attract some of the culinary tourism that Spain, France has enjoyed (Moskin, 2011). The permanently closed of World’s top restaurant El Bulli results the attention of many chefs to the north (Moskin, 2011). The different international newspapers and media has got attention to New Nordic Cuisine after the success of the world’s top restaurant Noma. The New Nordic cuisine has drawn the concentration of many culinary tourist.

The given framework is designed to interrelate two major variables to find out the objectives of the research:

Figure 2.1: Theoretical framework

This framework illustrates the effects of New Nordic Cuisines in relation to Tourism market of Denmark. The world’s top restaurant Noma has played a great role for the invention of New Nordic Cuisine and to make it popular in the world. The key manifesto of New Nordic Cuisine is to use the fresh and fine local seasonal ingredients. The unique ingredients, the cooking and preparation of dishes grabbed the attention of different chefs around the world and helped to setup a unique gastronomy industry in Denmark. The different international media and newspaper has published about the restaurant Noma and its cooking style. The head chef and the owner of Noma Rene Redzepi became a celebrity chef and the many tourism related business and the tourism board brand Denmark (especially Copenhagen) as a culinary destination.

Chapter 3

Methodology

3.1 Introduction

The major aim of this chapter is to breakdown the process and to address the possible answers for the research questions. According to Avgousti (2013), the primary aim and objectives of the research method is to conduct a research on hypothesis and questions in order to negotiate the response and the results. It helps find the response from the relevant respondents on desired questions through different methods like qualitative or quantitative ways. According to Sanders et al. 2003, (as cited in Avgousti, 2013) “research, is something that people undertake in order to find out things in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledge”. To carry out the objectives of this research, quantitative method is used.

3.2 Research Design

3.3 Sampling Method

3.4 Data Collection

3.5 Measurement and Variables

3.6 Data Analysis

Reference:

Schinkel, L. (2013). Exploring International Cuisine. Saskatchewan, Canada: 4-H Saskatchewan.