Full case study report: Røros Meat - Norway

Summary

Røros Meat is a local meat processing company emphasizing local and traditional products. Since 2011 the company has produced organic products to the retail chain Rema 1000. Before and today the main activity is processing non-organic and traditional 3 products for the HoReCa (Hotel, Restaurant and Catering)-market in the region. Røros Meat is located in Os, a neighboring municipality of Røros. Despite the fact that the two locations belong to different counties; they are located in the same mountain region of the eastern parts of Southern Norway. The reason for using the name Røros in their business name is the already established value of this name/brand due to Røros status as a historical mining town on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, and Røros is a well-known name and travelling spot for both national and international tourism. Beside traditional economic activities such as agriculture and forestry, tourism is a very important activity for the town and the district. Røros Meat, established in 2003, took over another meat processor company, which had a low performance. Regional organic farmers were decisive in establishing the meat processing company just as they were for Røros Dairy. They wanted a local milk- and meat processing opportunity for their organic productions. The regional organic farmer cooperative, Økomat Røros BA, was a driving force for starting the company. Five private actors, the organic cooperative Økomat Røros, and Røros Dairy came in as shareholders. Røros Abattoir was one of the owners. In 2007 they bought new shares in the company and they now own about 60 % of the shares. The abattoir has two persons in the board of Røros Meat, where one of these are the chair of board. From 2014 the General Manager of Røros Abattoir now also hold this position in Røros Meat. The plan is to merge the two companies. The main reason why we wanted to study the value chain of Røros Meat as part of the Healthy Growth project is their production of organic products for the supermarket chain REMA 1000. REMA 1000 is a typical discount chain in Norway and until recently organic food has not been a focus. We have not studies the value chain of Røros Meat in depth according to the template developed for the Healthy Growth project, rather we mainly shed light on the cooperation with REMA 1000 as part of a growth strategy of the company. 4 Figure 1: Map of Norway and Røros Røros Dairy is the only organic dairy in Norway, established in 2001. It has experienced a steady growth since established and has today 20 employees and a turnover of 45.5 mill NOK (5,5 mill EUR) in 2013. There have been periods of economic struggles, but today the dairy is profitable and perceived as one of the most successful organic firms and value chains in Norway. Their success in combining growth with organic and other product qualities is the reason why we selected the dairy and its value chain as a case in the Healthy Growth project.