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Design-Driven Innovation Within New Nordic Cuisine
Design-Driven Innovation Within New Nordic Cuisine
Introduction
The Nordic food lifestyle, particularly the Danish, has been long influenced by efficient agriculture and the puritan culture that strips away the pleasure and quality of the food experience. Danish butter and pork lead the global market and the agro industries deliver products with uniform quality at competitive price (www2). The home demand was sluggish as the diet is mostly based on efficiency, without much consideration on taste or origin (ibid.). However, the Nordic region is unique in its climate and landscape. Its location from equator, the coastal climate and largely undisturbed area give room for exploration of different flavors that can offer more meaning than the food of the industrialization era. Claus Meyer, a prominent Danish entrepreneurial figure, envisioned the idea of New Nordic Cuisine as an answer to the non-sustainable food lifestyle practiced by a growing part of Nordic society. It is a discourse based on locally produced ingredients only and ways of cooking native to the Nordic region (Hermansen, 2012). He then mobilized his networking flair to gather interpreters that could help build and address the discourse. Since its emergence, the New Nordic Cuisine has built its discourse by working not only with gastro-intelligentsia, but also scientists, governments, artists, educational and research institutions, and many others. The collaborative work of interpreters making up the discourse has resulted in many special projects aiming to not only explore Nordic ingredients, but also utilizing food as an instrument to improve lives. The discourse of New Nordic Cuisine serves as an interesting example of Design-Driven innovation at play. By examining the discourse in connection with the theoretical ground of Design-Driven Innovation written by Verganti (2009), the paper aims to describe the process of building the discourse in relation to Design-Driven Innovation strategy. Specifically, the paper examines two main subjects: the investigation of meaning the New Nordic Cuisine proposes, as well as the collaborative interplay between the interpreters participating in the discourse.
flavors, by combining the demand for taste with the modern knowledge of health and wellbeing. Moreover, it brings the notion of inclusion as it is also aimed to unite consumers, craftsmen, producers, researchers and other institutions that made up the design discourse of New Nordic Cuisine. By providing an avenue to connect with nature and landscape, New Nordic Cuisine brings up a sense of place within the Nordic society. The attachment of shared values in the Nordic society into the manifesto of New Nordic Cuisine, namely sustainability, equality, and simplicity, create a level of resonance between the discourse and the people within it. As pointed out by Hansen (2010), within the construct of a society lies a shared cultural categories, values, and principles. The use of languages and shared historical narratives are among the instruments used to transfer the meaning of those shared values (ibid.) In this context, New Nordic Cuisine can be seen as a powerful
How can it be self-sustainable in such extreme climate condition? What would people eat during wintertime? How to offer great tasting food without using French and Italian
ingredients? It is through natural epiphany that the discourse managed to address the
skepticism. There are several special projects that are established within the discourse to gain the natural epiphany. Among some are Project Opus, that serve as a collaborative house to develop healthy and palatable new food and eating concept, and Nordic Food Lab, the design-driven innovation lab to further explore the meaning and building blocks of New Nordic Cuisine. Those special projects has uncovered the potential of Nordic seaweed as a source of protein, the usage of fermentation to bring up the umami flavor, and the flavor mapping of indigenous Nordic ingredients, among others. In line with the manifesto, the projects not only use collaborative research to discover new taste and ingredients, but also aim to improve livelihood of people in the region. The central part of Nordic Food Lab mission is to assist primary producers and food workers in their role as knowledge workers (www1). The usage of science and technology to bring natural epiphany is not a new concept within the food discourse. It even grew more influence during the molecular gastronomy movement, pioneered by the likes of elBullis Ferran Adria, Fat Ducks Heston Blumenthal, and Thomas Kellers The French Laundry. Ferran Adria of elBulli wants his dishes to provoke, to make people think and feel when eating (Norton. et al, 2009). He aimed at holistic novel experience, and utilizes scientific techniques to create new textures and surprising flavors (ibid.) The discourse of molecular gastronomy aimed at novel innovation, whereas New Nordic Cuisine utilizes natural epiphany to improve to quality of primary produce (www2). Figure 1 illustrated the meaning that different discourses in food try to propose to society. The meaning within various food discourses is influenced and directed by a number of interests from the discourse constituents. The discourse of terroir proposed the meaning of food as a social identifier a remembrance of identity, and the connection between food and the whole terroir it belongs to. With the emergence of globalization and industrialization, ingredients that are not native to its terroir became
more accessible and society started to experiment with different kind of ingredients, resulting in movement like fusion food and international cuisine. The joy of exploration was further extended through scientific explorations, from which the discourse of molecular gastronomy was born. Food became more than reflection of ones identity. For many people, it is a source of novel experiences. Pine and Gilmore (1999) argue that experiences are not the final economic offerings. Transformations are distinct economic offering that brings more progressive values to people (ibid.) Kristensen (2009) define transformation as a designed experience for an
individual who seeks a sensory experience, an intellectual or virtuous challenge, or an intellectual or artistic insight. A transformative experience changes the character of a
need, which set it apart from novel experiences. In this context, New Nordic Cuisine propose transformative experience as its carried meaning.
The basic meaning of New Nordic Cuisine was drawn from the terroir discourse. The recreation of Nordic terroir serves as a form of nostalgia for Nordic folks to discover who they are and put them in touch with the environment they inhabit (Hermansen,
2012). The Manifesto embodies the value of social identity, sustainability, healthy living, and collaboration, all of which are virtue to transformation and cannot be achieved only by following terroir discourse. On one of his talks, Claus Meyer believes that food matters beyond pleasure, and he envisioned New Nordic Cuisine as an instrument to improve lives (www9). It is the natural epiphany, drawn from series of collaboration, discoveries and scientific exploration that allows the discovery of this meaning.
Verganti (2009) describes two types of interpreters that make up a design discourse: cultural and technological producers. Cultural producers include people who are involved in the production and investigation of social meaning, while the latter utilize their discoveries, technical innovations, product and services to propose new meanings of things (ibid.). The two engage in a continuous dialogue within the design discourse, with one acting as a social observant and the other as an enabler. The interesting part of the New Nordic Cuisine discourse is that it includes several interpreters who act as both cultural and technological producer. When Claus Meyer first envisioned the discourse, he approached Ren Redzepi, who was then a chef at Kong Hans Klder Copenhagen. He was offered to be the head chef of a restaurant at the North Atlantic House, an 18th century warehouse which was being turned into a cultural center for the North Atlantic region. The restaurant Noma was born not long after, and acted as pioneering project that aimed at incorporating the vision of New Nordic Cuisine into its offering. In the context of Design-driven innovation, Ren Redzepi acts as an advanced interpreter within the New Nordic Cuisine discourse. While there can be many interpreters who populate a design discourse, few has the ability to do advanced search for meaning, while at the same time envisioning new possibilities and participating in the teamwork that is required for innovation (ibid.). Ren Redzepis role as a chef puts him in the world of cultural production, while his strive for discovery and exploration of nature helps to bring out the natural epiphany. It is important to look at the role of restaurant Noma in addressing the discourse of New Nordic Cuisine. As a pioneering project, the restaurant serves as a playground to test out the manifesto of New Nordic Cuisine. Ren Redzepi was given a greater freedom to explore potential use of Nordic native ingredients. Noma was also established within a special setting outside the market stream, as at the time the culinary landscape was influenced more by novel experiences. Pioneering projects are often well suited for innovation as clients of such projects are more willing to delve into new avenues and experimentation, and it often act as beacons of cultural production (Verganti, 2009). Noma quickly gathered attention from the elite circles within the culinary discourse, which served as an important milestone in addressing the New Nordic Cuisine discourse.
The attention from elite circles meant that opportunities were opening up for the discourse to gather more interpreters to further elaborate the meaning of New Nordic Cuisine. Less than 10 months after the opening of restaurant Noma, Claus Meyer and Ren Redzepi took the initiative to organize New Nordic Cuisine symposium (www2). Some of the greatest chefs in the region were invited, and together they created the New Nordic Cuisine manifesto. The manifesto serves as a ground to unite chefs and farmers within the Nordic region, companies of all size, politicians and private people to define the contour of Nordic cuisine (ibid.). Apart from the manifesto, the symposium also acted as a form of buy-in from other chefs who were initially skeptical about the sustainability of the discourse. As meaning cannot be designed deterministically and are not an intrinsic part of a product, people can give their own interpretations of the meaning embedded in a certain discourse (Verganti, 2009). The manifesto is a form of shared vision of the meaning New Nordic Cuisine tried to propose, and it helps interpreters around the discourse to work towards a shared vision. It is a form of design circle where interpreters share a common vision and revolve around a common center (ibid.). The discourse gained more cultural interpreters when the Nordic Council of Ministers adopted the New Nordic Cuisine manifesto as the ideology of New Nordic Food Program (www2). The New Nordic Food program is a government-led initiative that encourages new forms of local traditions and support local producers, artisans and entrepreneurs (www3). The program also aimed at putting Nordic food on the worlds gourmet map, which can be seen as a form of nation branding effort. Nations brand themselves to construct shared national identity among it citizens (Olins, in Hansen, 2010). The fact that the manifesto incorporates the Nordic terroir, and to some extent, the social values of the Nordic folk, give relevance for it to be attached to the branding of Nordic region. Within the life context of New Nordic Cuisine, the government serves an important role as a mediator in providing access to other interpreters. To date, the New Nordic Food program has helped addressing New Nordic Cuisine discourse by collaborating with
interpreters in the areas of education, politics, entrepreneurship, and public service sectors. The governments immersion in New Nordic Food program has provided the discourse not only access to interpreters, but also a way to expose the meaning of the discourse to a greater mass. For example, the Nordic Food Diplomacy project acts as a tool of communication of Nordic values, through the display of food and culinary portrayals. The recent conference of New Nordic Food put its focus on children and youth, where development has been made to make the values of New Nordic Food to be an integral part of schools curriculum (www4). The credibility of the New Nordic Cuisines discourse was strengthened not only through the New Nordic Food program, but also through various initiatives that the discourses key interpreters undertook. Since 2004, Claus Meyer co-hosted the culinary TV show New Scandinavian Cooking, with Swedish chef Tina Nordtsrm, Norwegian chef Andres Viestad and Finnish chef Sara La fountain, where they explored local products and cuisine around the Nordic region, and based the content on the Manifesto for a New Nordic Cuisine (Hermansen, 2012). Claus Meyer also plays a pivotal role in Project Opus that is led by Professor Arne Astrup of Copenhagen Universitys Faculty of Life Sciences (www5). Project Opus is a five-year project aiming to create the New Nordic Diet: a modern, everyday cuisine that will contribute to improve health among the population in particular children (ibid.). The dynamics within The New Nordic Cuisine discourse demonstrates a particularly sophisticated art of networking. The collaboration of different interpreters that conduct research around the life context of the discourse provides various inputs that can be useful on exposing the discourse to a greater mass. However, the big twist that contributes to the successful dissemination of the discourse lies on the role of restaurant Noma as pioneering project. Within three years after its opening, the restaurant was part of Worlds Top 15 best restaurants on the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list. Organized by Restaurant magazine, Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list is known to be one of the most
prestigious awards within the culinary industry, where the ranking is based on a poll of international chefs, restaurateurs, gourmands and restaurant critics (www6). Noma quickly gained attention from the elite circles within the culinary world, and is set at par with other big names like elBulli, Fat Duck and French Laundry. As the discourses pioneering project, Noma has pulled various cultural interpreters that act as powerful symbol creators in society; gastro-intelligentsia, celebrities, trendsetters, among others, into the discourse. The sudden attention from these various symbol creators attracted the greater mass, and the demand for local quality products was booming (Hermansen, 2012). The Noma-effect has transformed the food choice of many Scandinavians, with a shift towards local and sustainable products (ibid.). At the time of writing, Noma has topped the list of worlds best restaurant for three consecutive years. While some radical innovations emerge from stroke of luck or the right time, right place, the success of Noma, and the dissemination of New Nordic Cuisine discourse can be attributed to the art of collaboration between interpreters. The intertwined play between proposing social meaning and exploring new territories through experimentation, is a key success factor for the discourse. To keep building the capabilities within the discourse, Claus Meyer and Ren Redzepi established Nordic Food Lab in 2008. The purpose of Nordic Food Lab is to explore the building blocks of Nordic cuisine through traditional and modern gastronomies, and to share these results with chefs, academics, industry, and the public (www7). Nordic Food Lab plays the role of the main engine in building relationships with external interpreters. Nordic Food Lab acts as a collaborative melting pot between cultural and technological interpreters. The lab hires scientists, microbiologists and anthropologists to work together towards a common goal. It also partners up with companies, governmental and cultural organization (see appendix 3). The span of interpreters that works together allows the lab to be the champion of opportunities for design-driven innovation (ibid.). Its hub is located on a houseboat in Copenhagen harbor, where the
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network of interpreters investigates old and new techniques and materials, developing knowledge and ideas to further build the capability of the discourse (www7). It is one of the core works of Nordic Food Lab to conduct experiments and studies of new materials and techniques. Ben Reade, the Head of Culinary Research and Development of Nordic Food Lab recognizes that the study of food must be researchbased, but they also have the confidence to get things wrong, the confidence to fail (www8). Such spirit triggers many ideas to flow at the same time, and theres very little limitation as to what kind of research they can do, as long as it still within the discourse of New Nordic Cuisine (ibid.). The research that Nordic Food Lab has undertaken ranges from scientific research mainly focusing on quality, to flavors and sustainable production, and an anthropological study that explored localized cuisine as a focal point of identity construction within the Nordic society. In addition, the lab also relies on cultural prototypes to address the discourse. Verganti (2009) defined cultural prototypes as a medium that embeds the results of a
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competitiveness might not be the main focus of the discourse. As noted by Meyer (www9), It (New Nordic Cuisine) is not a crusade against Beef Bourguignon, Japanese
Sushi or Italian Pizza. If our movement is a threat against anything, then it is International junk food and fast food companiesthat ruined our healthand potentially damage the planet.
The New Nordic Cuisine discourse has gone a long way since its initiation in 2003. The breadth of Claus Meyers network and the discovery-flair of Ren Redzepi has helped the discourse gain key interpreters in relatively short period of time. To date, the discourse has gained a central position not just within the bigger culinary discourse, but also within the social construction of Nordic society. However, the challenge for the current design of New Nordic Cuisine discourse is to envision a future for it. To fully realize the manifesto of New Nordic Cuisine is a big challenge. A self-sustained, ethical food discourse combined with excellent flavors seems to be a fairly utopic idea. However, to reach that big vision, the discourse has come up with various innovations that have made the whole vision seem to be less impossible. The interpreters within the discourse have to keep the attitude of exploration, and not quickly move to exploitation to sustain the value of the discourse (Verganti, 2009). By looking at the recent development of the discourse, it seems like the attitude of exploration is there to stay. According to Claus Meyer, if this fairytale, bearing in mind
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the state of food ten years ago, could (have) happened in Denmark, then it could happen anywhere (www9). The full scope of the New Nordic Cuisine as a transformative
experience was not foreseen in the beginning of the discourse formation (ibid.). Claus Meyer is currently testing the thesis that the manifesto of New Nordic Cuisine can be applied in other parts of the world, by taking out the Nordic from it. Currently, a project is being undertaken in Bolivia, with an aim to experiment with the countrys rich biodiversity to help the 26% of the population who suffer from hunger, by looking at self-sustainable options (www9).
Conclusion
The New Nordic Cuisine discourse proposes meaning around transformative experience. While at the beginning of the discourse formation the focus lies on building the Nordic
Terroir, the emergence of various interpreters within the life context of the discourse
creates meaning that extends to sustainability, health and well being, as well as other virtues to positive transformational experience. The aim of New Nordic cuisine is described through the Manifesto for New Nordic Cuisine, which serves not only as an aim but also as a shared value between various interpreters making up the discourse. There are several observations that can be made on the Design-Driven Innovation process within the discourse. The role of advanced interpreter is crucial on weaving different streams of interpreters together. In addition, Ren Redzepi as one of the discourses advanced interpreters plays the role of both cultural and technological producers, the latter being more on observation and exploration of different ingredients available in the Nordic region. The discourse of New Nordic Cuisine is built around various research projects that help generate the meaning of the discourse as well as addressing the discourse to people. Although undertaking various research projects often requires a considerable amount of financial resources, research projects conducted within the discourse are sponsored by different interpreters. The interest from various interpreters is made possible due to the attachment of the values of the discourse and the interpreters own values in other
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words, they operate within the same life context. In addition, the creation of Manifesto for New Nordic Cuisine serves as a form of shared vision between interpreters who are involved in building the manifesto. Not only is the work of interpreters focused on a common goal, but also the sense of ownership among the interpreters help sustain the value of the discourse. The final observation lies on the role of Nordic Food Lab to sustain the value of the discourse, maintain interaction with various interpreters and maintaining the mindset of exploration. In the context of Design-Driven Innovation, we can see Nordic Food Lab as a form of Design-Driven Lab that acts as a center point of the development of capabilities around the discourse, and whose mission is to specifically support the development and monitoring of the innovation capabilities (Verganti, 2009). A Design-Driven Lab also plays a role of enabling design-driven research projects to nurture the interpretation process, and continuously communicates with interpreters within the discourse (ibid). Nordic Food Lab has expanded the discourses pool of interpreters, and made its research open source, so everyone can be a part of the discourse and contribute.
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References
Verganti, R. (2009). Design-driven innovation: changing the rules of competition by radically innovating what things mean. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Hermansen, Mark Emil (2012). Creating Terroir: An Anthropological Perspective of New Nordic Cuisine as an Expression of Nordic Identity. Nordic Food Lab. Fischler, C. (1988) Food, Self and Identity in Social Science Information 27:2, pp.275-292 Pine & Gilmore. Welcome to the experience economy, the customer is the product in The Experience Economy, Harvard Business School Press, 1999 Hansen, Per H (2010). Cobranding Product and Nation: Danish Modern Furniture and Denmark in the United States 1940 1970 in Trademark, Brands and Competitiveness, pp 77 101 Falcon, Nana (2010). Transformation in the New Nordic Kitchen. Copenhagen Business School. Norton, M. Villanueva, J and Wathieu, Luc (2009). elBulli: The Taste of Innovation. Harvard Business School Online Source: www1: Nordic Food Lab Presentation. http://madkulturen.dk/. 25 Dec 2012 www2: Meyer, Claus. The New Nordic Cuisine Movement. www.clausmeyer.dk. 25 Dec 2012 www3: http://nynordiskmad.org/. 02 Jan 2013 www4: New Nordic Food Conference its all about the kids. http://foodstudio.no/column/new-nordicfood-conference/. 02 Jan 2013 www5: Nielsen, Lise. Noma: A taste for a Changing World. https://www.mm.dk. 04 Jan 2013 www6: http://www.theworlds50best.com/. 04 Jan 2013 www7: http://nordicfoodlab.org/. 25 Dec 2012 www8: Liu, Kevin. Nordic Food Labs Ben Reade on Microbiology, Eating Insects, and the Pursuit of Deliciousness. https://www.sciencefare.org. 25 Dec 2012 www9: Meyer, Claus. Unfolding the Potential of Indigenous Food Culture. www.ted.com. Video Presentation. 02 Jan 2013
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Appendix 1
Manifesto for the New Nordic Kitchen As Nordic chefs we find that the time has now come for us to create a New Nordic Kitchen, which in virtue of its good taste and special character compares favourable with the standard of the greatest kitchens of the world. The aims of New Nordic Cuisine are: 1. To express the purity, freshness, simplicity and ethics we wish to associate with our region. 2. To reflect the changing of the seasons in the meals we make. 3. To base our cooking on ingredients and produce whose characteristics are particularly excellent in our climates, landscapes and waters. 4. To combine the demand for good taste with modern knowledge of health and wellbeing. 5. To promote Nordic products and the variety of Nordic producers and to spread the word about their underlying cultures. 6. To promote animal welfare and a sound production process in our seas, on our farmland and in the wild. 7. To develop potentially new applications of traditional Nordic food products. 8. To combine the best in Nordic cookery and culinary traditions with impulses from abroad. 9. To combine local self-sufficiency with regional sharing of high-quality products. 10. To join forces with consumer representatives, other cooking craftsmen, agriculture, the fishing, food , retail and wholesale industries, researchers, teachers, politicians and authorities on this project for the benefit and advantage of everyone in the Nordic countries.
Appendix 2
Sample of Recipe from Restaurant Noma
Ingredients 16 long radishes 8g parsley 8g chives 5g tarragon 5g chervil 5g shallots 125g sheep's milk yogurt 15g capers 50g mayonnaise 5g instant food thickener
Malt Soil Day 1 175g flour 85g malt flour 50g hazelnut flour 25g sugar 75g lager Day 2 40g flour 20g malt flour 50g hazelnut flour 4g salt 60g butter, melted Instructions: Radishes: Wash the radishes and cut off the bottoms. Remove the leaves and stems, leaving only a few pretty ones. Herb cream: Roughly chop the herbs and shallots. Add the yogurt and capers and process in a Thermomix. Blend in the mayonnaise and pass through a fine sieve (strainer). Blend the mixture with the instant food thickener. Malt Soil: Day 1: Preheat the oven to 90C (195F). Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and pour into a food processor. Process 3 times in short bursts while adding the beer. Spread on a tray and dry in the oven for 3-6 hours. Push through a coarse sieve to remove the thickest lumps. Day 2: Repeat the mixing procedure from Day 1 with the remaining malt soil ingredients, then mix the 2 batches together by hand, ensuring that no moist lumps are left in the mixture. For Serving: Use a piping (pastry) bag to half-fill a small pot with the herb cream. Season the radishes with sea salt and insert them in the cream. Sprinkle enough malt soil on top of the radishes to cover the cream completely and the radishes partially. - Redzepi 2010: 315
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