By Catalina Mihu
The Whole Grain Partnership was established in Denmark to encourage people to eat healthier – which means having more whole grains.
The Whole Grain Partnership is a public–private partnership between authorities Danish Veterinary, Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Agency, the Danish Cancer Society, the Danish Heart Foundation, and the Danish Diabetes Association, as well as several food companies, retail chains, and trade associations. The initiative consists of 29 partners, each contributing with their strengths and competencies. Authorities (e.g., the Danish Veterinary, Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Agency) contribute with dietary guidelines, professional guidance and credibility. Health NGOs bring forth research, health communication and PR, while ensuring that messages about health benefits remain evidence-based. The project’s commercial partners (millers, bakeries, cereal and food producers) contribute by product development and reformulation, increasing whole grain availability and quality, and by marketing and in-store/on-pack communication (within the partnership’s agreed framework). In turn, retail chains make whole grain choices visible and accessible in stores and participate in joint campaign weeks. Foodservice/canteen partners implement whole-grain solutions in professional kitchens and help create structural changes in everyday meals.
The bakeries’ role is also important: bread, especially rye bread, is a key contributor to whole-grain intake in Denmark. Historically, it has been challenging for bakeries to widely use the orange whole grain logo, which has been developed for the project, widely due to recipe and category criteria, but whole grain flour is part of everyday baking across the sector. “You can find rye bread and other whole-grain breads made with whole-grain flour in virtually any Danish bakery,” says Rikke Iben Neess, Campaign Manager, Whole Grain Partnership.
The aim is simply – and essentially – improving public health. The mission of the Whole Grain Partnership is to increase the availability of whole grain products and spread awareness of the beneficial effects of whole grains. The cumulated work of the participating organizations already shows visible results: around 70% of all Danes are familiar with the ‘whole grain’ logo promoted by the Project, and a vast majority of them (approximately 80%) say they choose to buy products bearing it. Danes’s good intentions are not just words: the average daily intake of whole grains in Denmark has roughly doubled since the launch of the project.
The interest has been met with a matching, impossible-to-refuse offer diversity: if fewer than 200 products labeled as ‘whole grain’ could be found on the shelves in 2010, that number soared to over 1,000 varieties with the logo.
The European Union recognized the Danish Whole Grain Partnership as a Best Practice example in 2019, followed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2022. Most recently, the United Nations acknowledged the project in July 2025, highlighting its successful public-private model as a global initiative for improving public health and dietary habits. Since then, research has investigated how the model could be adopted in other countries, such as Slovenia, Romania, or the UK.
A word to remember: Fuldkornspartnerskabet
The Whole Grain Partnership – Fuldkornspartnerskabet, in Danish, was established between 2007 and 2009, when the orange whole grain logo was launched. It says, simply, ‘Choose whole grains first’, which is ‘Vælg fuldkorn først’ in Danish. Since then, the campaign has been working on rolling out multi-year strategies and annual action plans for the people of Denmark.
Improving public health in the country by increasing whole grain consumption has been, and it remains the project’s primary goal. At the same time, “The partnership has
attracted significant international interest and is used as a best-practice case by other countries and organizations, but our consumer-facing activities and targets are national,” Iben Neess clarifies.
“We continuously keep our ‘antennae out’ for food trends and new consumer needs right now, for example, we are looking closely at the ‘fibermaxxing’ trend and developing recipes with a strong dietary fiber content.”
Rikke Iben Neess, Campaign Manager, Whole Grain Partnership
The long game
Setting up the project as a public-private partnership pooled together public institutions’ strengths with those of businesses and research organizations to address public health from the focused perspective of whole grains, as a valuable ingredient to a healthy life. In this format, all parties could share expertise and bring complementary competencies to the table, as well as a wealth of combined resources, for a broader reach and impact.
The project is a long-term public-private partnership with a two-sided approach:
1. Making it easy for consumers to choose whole grains, which are clearly marked the orange whole grain logo. These are not only products with a high whole grain content, but they also meet criteria for low-fat, low-sugar and low-salt content claims, and
2. ‘Lifting the baseline’ by encouraging more whole grain choices to be available in many everyday products and meals (with or without the logo) where possible.
Several activities are carried out all year round: “Our yearly action plans combine partner-driven activities and shared national <peaks> that create visibility and new norms, including campaigns such as Yearly Whole Grain Day (Årets Fuldkornsdag) – held in mid-January, Breakfast Week (Morgenmadsugen), Open Sandwich Week (Smørrebrødsugen) and Dinner Week (Aftensmadsugen),” the Project’s Campaign Manager tells bbi. The concepts for these campaigns are developed in collaboration with the member partners, often in dedicated working groups, and produced as ‘plug-and-play toolkits’ – so that retailers, producers, canteens, NGOs and authorities can immediately incorporate them in their own channels and settings.
An open conversation
The Project’s members maintain an ongoing communication strategy with consumers and all interested stakeholders, encouraging them to access the information resources. Key channels include social media (Instagram and Facebook for consumer inspiration; LinkedIn for stakeholder and partner profiling), PR and media outreach, newsletters to partners, and partner amplification via retail chains, brands and canteens.
The Project management learned that a combination of the following factors is the most effective:
1. Simple, consistent messages (e.g., ‘Choose whole grains, and ‘Look for the orange logo’);
2. Inspiration-driven content (recipes, short videos, seasonal tips) that speaks to taste, comfort and everyday habits; and
3. Partner activation where consumers have such food choices in stores, foodservice/canteens and in workplace or school settings.
Messages and materials are developed with partners to ensure coherence and credibility, while allowing each partner to adapt to their own audiences and channels.
More work to be done
Before the partnership was established, Denmark had a relatively low average whole grain intake of 36 g of whole grains per day, around the mid-2000s. Today, the Danes eat an average of 66 g of whole grains per day. However, there is still more work ahead, new statistics show. Iben Neess reveals that, “We have just received fresh intake data on Danes’ dietary habits, and, unfortunately, the overall picture is not very positive. Whole grain intake shows a mixed development: it is increasing among men, but has declined by 18% among young women, compared with 10 years ago. Whole grain intake has increased from 57 g to 69 g (on average) per day – among men aged 18-75.”
The Project’s organizers are optimistic about being able to maintain the overall intake level, given broader dietary trends, which are largely negative.
The resources provided even include recipes and meal inspiration, created and curated to make whole grains practical, tasty and relevant in everyday life. “We continuously keep our ‘antennae out’ for food trends and new consumer needs right now, for example, we are looking closely at the ‘fibermaxxing’ trend and developing recipes with a strong dietary fiber content,” she highlights.
The recipes are mostly developed internally, but some are created with external contributors, including food professionals. A key principle is that the recipes should be easy to use, based on familiar Danish food culture, and help consumers increase whole grains across meals. They are also designed to be reusable by partners in their own communication and activations.
The results are encouraging, as the substantial intake growth has been thoroughly documented. “With the national recommendation now set at 90g/day, there is still an important gap to close, especially among those who eat the least whole grain and the young girls aged 11-17,” the Campaign Manager underlines. The Project members can already observe strong consumer recognition and trust in the orange logo.
They believe that a continued demand for convenient and tasty whole grain solutions across multiple categories can make a difference, not limited to only traditional rye bread, but also for breakfast products, sandwich, pasta, and ‘everyday’ bakery products. The activities within the Project focus on making whole grains relevant in modern eating patterns, and by communicating whole grains through inspiration and taste not only through nutrition facts.
Health is an ongoing journey
The partnership was designed as a long-term collaboration rather than a time-limited project. The next steps, as described in the current strategy cycle and annual action plans, will focus on increasing whole grain intake (especially among the quarter of the population who eat the least and young girls); maintaining the earned level of trust in the orange logo, and ensuring availability and attractiveness of whole grain products across categories and eating occasions. The Project’s representative notes: “A newer major focus area is embedding whole grains structurally in meals outside the home, particularly school meals and foodservice/canteens, so that whole grains can become a natural default choice.
The success of the planned actions is monitored through targets/KPIs such as intake levels where data exists, number of logo-labelled products, consumer awareness and behavior, and an uptake in foodservice initiatives.
In practice, the partnership is not considered as ‘completed’ when reaching a certain endpoint; rather, the goals are updated as new data and societal conditions emerge – for example, when national dietary recommendations change, as they did when the recommendation increased to 90g/day. Iben Neess anticipates: “Even if we were to reach an average intake of 90g/day, we would not expect the work to stop. Experience tells us that progress needs to be maintained, and without continued joint focus and many stakeholders pulling in the same direction, whole grain intake would likely decline over time.”
Anyone who can contribute to improving public health by increasing whole grain consumption is welcome to join the project. “For producers specifically, we expect a concrete commitment – at the very least, one product sold must carry the orange whole grain logo, and preferably more should be added over time, alongside active engagement in relevant partnership activities,” she explains.
As numbers show (and international recognition confirms), the Project is working, and Danes are improving their nutrition.