History
IT ALL STARTED IN 1951 IN A SMALL KITCHEN IN VEJLE, DENMARK
In 1951, Inga and Peter Christensen started a small business in their home, baking cookies for the nearby grocery stores.
The company grew through the decades, and today it is a respected corporation, the Good Food Group, which consists of seven companies and employs 550 people. The Group is represented in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.
Until January 2019, the Group was operated by the second and third generation. Today it is owned by Maj Invest. The Group has a total of 550 dedicated employees worldwide.
FROM 1951 TO TODAY
1951: Inga’s Småkager (later Ingadane) is etablished in Vejle, Jutland
1975: First export order
1986: Ingadane is sold
1986: Hornbech jam factory is acquired
1986: More acquisitions between 1986 and 1996
1987: Dan Labels is established
1996: A production site in Poland is acquired
1997: Streamline Foods in the UK is acquired
2000: JAN Import is acquired
2001: Danisco Foods in Tårs is acquired
2003: Danisco Foods in Norway and Sweden is acquired
2005: Svansø Foods is acquired
2008: A production site in India is acquired
2010: Mammens Emballage is acquired
2012: Schweitzer is acquired
2013: Emballagegruppen is established
2016: Majority of shares acquired in Digitalhuset
2016: Majority of shares acquired in Dalby Mølle
2017: Majority of shares acquired in Strandbygaard Grafisk
2019: Maj Invest acquires the Good Food Group and Emballagegruppen, Digitalhuset, Strandbygaard Grafik and Scandic Food India are separated from the Group.
THE FAIRY TALE OF THE LITTLE CAKE FACTORY
Excerpt from Vejlebogen (The Vejle Book), 2010
In Vejlebogen, the journalist Vibeke Kruse tells the fairy tale about the small cake factory that became a major food company:
In 1951, when Inga Christensen baked her first cookies for sale, she unwittingly started a business fairy tale of international dimensions. Inga’s Småkager, which later became known as Ingadane, was the modest beginning of the current international food company Good Food Group.
When the cookie fairy tale started, Inga was 29 years old and a housewife on Ribevej 1 in Vejle, where she was the centre of the family, which consisted of her husband Peter, who had trained as a baker and worked as a baker’s assistant, and their only child, Otto, born in 1950. It was a coincidence that gave Inga the idea to start baking cookies to sell. A former family lodger had left flour, sugar and baking equipment that he had planned to use to bake products for export. However, he didn’t have the money to realise his plan, so he left it all behind.
In 1971, 20 years after Inga started baking at home in her gas oven, her son Otto joined the family business. As a young, newly trained baker, he brought energy and lots of new ideas for turning the artisanal bakery business into a modern cake factory. In 1975 the company started exporting cookies throughout Scandinavia. In 1978 Otto Christensen took over the management, and the company changed its name to Ingadane, since all the cookies were now sold for export.
Between 1977 and 1986 the company became Denmark’s largest exporter of cookies. In 1986 Ingadane was sold to a competitor, and shortly afterwards Otto Christensen threw himself into new activities. He bought the Hornbech jam factory in Hadsund and founded the company Good Food, which it is still called today. This was the start of a long process that would turn the small factory into an international food business, which today is among the largest food companies in Denmark. Until January 2019 the Group was operated by the second and third generation. Today it is owned by Maj Invest.
Innovation
Tastes good
PROUD PURVEYOR TO THE ROYAL DANISH COURT
The Skælskør Frugtplantage trademark
In 1960 the brand Skælskør Frugtplantage was granted the title “By Appointment to the Royal Danish Court”. We are very honoured to be a supplier to the royal family.
Skælskør Frugtplantage dates back to 1898, when the brothers Heilmann began to cultivate fruits and berries for production of juices, jams and jellies.
In 2000 the brand was taken over by Scandic Food, and the extensive range of fruit compotes, dessert sauces, jams, jellies, juices and soft drinks is still being developed to meet the demands of today’s consumers. All products are manufactured in our own factories.
ROYAL VISIT TO THE ESTATE
In autumn 2015, HM Queen Margrethe and HRH Prince Henrik visited our head office in Vejle. On September 2, 2015, the Royal Yacht Dannebrog docked at Vejle Harbour, and after the official reception at the Town Hall, HM the Queen and HRH the Prince Consort visited the Good Food Group as the first visit in the royal couple’s programme.
During their visit, the royal couple had the opportunity to learn about the history of the company and the estate, as well as our products and markets. There was also time to sample some of the products. It was a special day for all employees at Store Grundet.
Skælskør Frugtplantage has been a purveyor to the Royal Danish Court since 1960.
See designationTHE GOOD FOOD GROUP IS BEHIND A WIDE RANGE OF BRANDS
Over the years, the Good Food Group has acquired a number of Danish food companies, and is now the driving force behind the following brands:
Svansø, Skælskør Frugtplantage, Vendelbo, Hornbech, Sun Island, Green Valley, Langelands, Rasmus Klump, Chefkokkens, Gammeldaws, Bedste Høst and Danica.
The Good Food Group also owns brands that are used for sale on export markets.
Read more
PRODUCTION OF QUALITY FOOD
The Good Food Group produces and supplies a wide range of quality foods.
In Denmark, the production is now distributed in such a way that fruit-based products as well as honey and dairy alternatives are produced in Tårs by Hjørring, while sauces, condiments and specialties are produced in Nørre Åby on Funen. Snack bars are produced at the factory in Hadsten, where oatmeal and muesli is also handled.
The production units manufacture products under their own brands and also offer production of private labels to retail chains and other food suppliers.