In the 19th century, Denmark's main food export was grain to the UK, but it was outcompeted by the
United States and
Russia and began to switch to pigs and butter from dairy herds. English
Large White pigs were exported to Denmark in the early nineteenth century. From 1840 to 1870 grain was almost half of Denmark's exports, but by 1900 this had fallen to under 3 per cent. Denmark exported bacon to the United Kingdom from at least 1847, when
flitches of bacon were specially prepared for the English market, but had no large-scale production until 1864, when the
Second Schleswig War made export of live pigs to
Hamburg, where up to then they had been slaughtered and cured, impossible and Denmark was forced to do this locally. However, export to the UK only became significant after
Germany, to whom Denmark had been exporting since the Middle Ages, erected trade barriers to (1879), and finally banned (1887), the import of live pigs. The lost German market amounted to almost 300,000 pigs per year and Denmark desperately needed to find a new market. The Danish imports were welcomed in the UK; the growth in population following the
Industrial Revolution meant that the country was no longer self-sufficient in food, but there was an increasing demand from a more affluent working class. The pig population grew from 442,441 in 1871 to nearly 2.5 million in 1914. At the time, British workers on average pay consumed bacon two to three times a week, and bacon and eggs became the
traditional British breakfast. This had previously been quite unaffordable for the working class. By the end of the 19th century, 90% of Danish pig exports went to the UK and accounted for 20% of total Danish exports. This made Denmark the main supplier to the UK, replacing the U.S. which previously held that position. Danish Bacon still had more than 25% of the UK market in the 1980s.
The co-operatives The first Danish farmer-owned co-operative bacon factory was established in 1887. There were soon more, and by 1897 there were dozens. By 1900 the co-operatives outnumbered private enterprises. By this time the export of live pigs had almost ceased, being replaced by export of pork and bacon. There followed intense competition between the co-operatives and private producers, with the co-operatives eventually winning out. The co-operatives had competition from foreign investors as well as indigenous enterprises. The first of these was I. D. Koopmann of Hamburg, who bought and opened new bacon factories in order to get around the German ban on live pigs. Koopmann refused to do business with the co-operatives, calling the movement "a sick idea". They worked closely with Denny & Co. of London—the Denny family were a major bacon manufacturer in
Ireland and between them they controlled a large portion of the UK market. Denny's took over Koopmann's when the latter got into debt in 1894. Denny's never managed to get on top of the co-operatives, but they held on in Denmark until 1968 when they finally sold what was left of the Danish operation to the Federation of Danish Co-operatives. One co-operative group and another major foreign player, was a competitor of the Danish co-operatives. This was the English
Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS). The CWS had depots in Denmark from 1881, taking advantage of the refusal of London dealers to buy from the co-operatives. From 1899, however, they started setting up their own manufacturing in Denmark. Production grew until 1930 but then slowly declined and CWS started selling up in 1971. The
Danish Bacon brand first made an appearance in the UK when the Danish Bacon Agency Limited (later, the Danish Bacon Company, now a brand of
Danish Crown) was set up in the
Port of London by the cooperatives in 1902 to handle exports to the UK. The Federation of Danish Co-operative Bacon Factories (De samvirkende danske Andels-Svineslagterier, from 1932 just Danske Slagterier) was formed in 1897, known in the UK as the Danish Bacon and Meat Council. The latter was responsible for UK marketing activities and promoted the
Danish Bacon brand. From 1908 Danish law insisted that meat exports be slaughtered in public
slaughterhouses. Bacon was also inspected at
Esbjerg and stamped to indicate disease free status and the number of the slaughterhouse. After 1908 it was declared free of all preservatives apart from salt and smoking. Danske Slagterier was absorbed into the Danish umbrella organisation for agricultural producers and food processors (Landbrug & Fødevarer) in 2009 and ceased to exist as a separate organisation. Through a series of mergers and takeovers Danish Crown became the largest co-operative, and by 2000 controlled the vast majority of Danish slaughterhouses.
World wars Danish bacon exports to the UK were interrupted during both world wars. During
World War One the cause was the shortage of imported cereals with which to feed the pigs. In
World War Two Danish ships supplying Britain had their cargo confiscated by the Germans or were even sunk. 6,500 tonnes of bacon were lost in this way. The
occupation of Denmark by the Germans in 1940 put a stop to exporting to Britain altogether.
Trade relations Attempts were made to modernise British bacon production along Danish lines in the 1930s, but this was not altogether successful at displacing Danish bacon, despite trade restrictions being imposed. Danish bacon remained a major item of discussion in trade negotiations between the two countries and complaints about the disjointedness of British bacon production compared to that from Denmark were still taking place in
Parliament in the 1950s. Danish bacon established a reputation in Britain; the mildly cured taste was preferred to the heavily salted and
borax-laden bacon imports from the US. Attempts by other countries, such as
Canada, to establish bacon imports into Britain during this period used Danish bacon as the quality standard against which their product was judged. ==Modernisation==