Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Organic Food from Denmark
Svane’s fruit and vegetable drinks can be enjoyed hot, cold and in a range of delicious dishes.
The taste of organic summer An exquisite summer drink, an after-school juice, or an energising ginger shot – with its wide variety and original blends, Svane’s juices are not just for breakfast. For more than 20 years, the family-owned Danish company has been dedicated to the development of all-organic juices and cordials. By Signe Hansen | Photos: Svane
It all started with an organic cranberry drink, developed for a doctor and a friend of the Svane family. Then followed an elderflower cordial made on an old family recipe, and, in 1995, Poul and Birgit Svane founded Svane. Despite its origin well before Denmark’s organic boom, the company has always been 100 per cent organic. Now run by the founders’ daughter Naja Svane and her husband, it continues in the same vein. “Back then, there wasn’t a lot of organic produce, and we started out driving around in a small van to just four stores in Copenhagen,” 66 | Issue 111 | April 2018
explains Naja Svane, who has been a part of the company since its origin. “But my parents’ way of thinking was a bit different; for them, eating organic was a way of taking better care of themselves, a way to avoid all of the unknown substances used in the production of regular fruit and vegetables.” The strong focus on everyday health and nutrition still prevails in all of Svane’s drinks. But in more recent years, some of the new taste variations offered in stylish glass bottles have also contributed
to their appearance as alcohol-free alternatives on the menu of a number of gourmet restaurants.
The taste of spring Among Svane’s newest additions are four seasonal fruit drinks sold in quaint glass bottles with labels made by the Danish artist Annette de Jonquieres. The blends represent the flavours of each season, with the taste of spring blended of apple, rhubarb, vanilla and mint, and summer of elderflower, pear, apple, ginger and citrus yuzo. The seasonal blends can be enjoyed in a number of ways: as a refreshing mixer for a welcome drink, as a non-alcoholic alternative to wine, or to add extra taste to food and cakes, explains Svane. “We have just developed a small cookbook together with Thomas Alcayaga [profes-