Belgium, 15th of June May 2026. More than 30 representatives from across the Belgian and Flemish food value chain, including farmers’ organisations, food companies, government agencies, and NGOs, gathered for a webinar to learn how Denmark is developing a market for legumes through collaboration, innovation, and public investment.
The webinar demonstrated how coordinated action across the value chain, supported by public policy, market development, and collaboration between producers and buyers, has helped create new opportunities for legume production in Denmark as well as supporting more healthy food environments. For many Flemish stakeholders, the experience offered valuable insights into how similar developments could be encouraged in Belgium.
From pig farming to organic legume production
One of the keynote speakers was Mathias Pedersen from Bælgkompagniet, a 450-hectare farm on Zealand, Denmark. He shared the farm’s transition story, from a conventional pig operation with 1800 sows producing 50,000 pigs annually to a specialised organic legume business.
The transition was based on extensive market analysis, a long-term ten-year strategy, and the fact that strong pig prices between 2018 and 2021 could help finance the transformation.
According to Pedersen, the shift was driven by a growing demand I Denmark for legumes that could deliver on taste, quality, and sustainability.
A key factor was the increasing demand from Danish public kitchens for organic legumes. This demand emerged partly as a result of Denmark’s 2021 dietary guidelines, which recommend consuming 100 grams of legumes per day as part of a healthy diet. At the same time, public funding from e.g. the Danish Plant-Based Food Grant, has supported initiatives encouraging greater use of legumes, fruits, and vegetables in public meal services. Today, food service providers are Bælgkompagniet’s primary customers.
Connecting farmers and buyers
Lærke Kirstine Lund from Planteværket, a business initiative under the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, also participated in the webinar.
Planteværket works to help Danish farmers develop profitable business opportunities within the growing plant-based food sector. One of its initiatives, Book a Field, connects farmers directly with buyers from food service, retail, and the food industry. Through these meetings, producers and buyers can establish agreements before crops are planted, providing farmers with greater certainty that there will be a market for their products.
According to Lund, demand for organic legumes continues to grow across the Danish food sector. She highlighted that public funding has played a crucial role in driving this development.
The Danish Plant-Based Food Grant has prioritised increasing demand for legumes, fruits, and vegetables. And throughout 2023, 2024, and 2025, the largest share of funding in the grant has been dedicated to demand stimulation. The Danish Organic Farming Fund has likewise supported public kitchens seeking to serve more plant-rich and organic meals.
Lund also noted a growing awareness among public kitchens that their purchasing decisions can directly influence what is grown on Danish farms. As a result, Planteværket regularly organises farm visits for kitchen professionals, including hospital catering staff, helping strengthen connections between buyers and producers.
According to Lund, legumes are also increasingly being used in bakery products, and food manufacturers are exploring new applications for legume ingredients across a range of products.
New crops require new investments
Bælgkompagniet has tested a wide range of crops to identify those best suited both for cultivation in the Danish climate as well as consumer preferences. Today, the farm focuses on lentils, peas, fava beans, lupins, and grey peas. Chickpeas have proven difficult to grow under Danish conditions, while lentils remain a challenging crop.
To capture more value, the farm processes all its own harvest. Drying, cleaning, sorting, and milling take place on-site, enabling direct sales to professional kitchens and food businesses. While the farm could operate without these facilities, processing significantly improves profitability and strengthens the overall business case.
The processing equipment has been installed in former pig stables, which now serve as storage facilities, processing areas, and a showroom. Bælgkompagniet also provides sorting services for legumes grown by other farmers. Total investment in the new facilities has been approximately EUR 800,000.
Demand remains the key challenge in Flanders
The discussions highlighted significant differences between Denmark and Flanders.
Several Flemish participants pointed to weak consumer and market demand as the main barrier preventing farmers from expanding legume production.
“In Flanders, we do not see the level of demand that exists in Denmark. From our perspective, market demand must come first or soon after the launch of a transition policy, like the protein shift. Once there is a clear market, it becomes much easier for farmers to make the transition” said Anne-Marie Vangeenberghe, Consultant in Cooperative Enterprise and Collaboration at Boerenbond.
Nele Kempeneers from Beenshoeve, an innovative family farm with arable crops in Flanders, echoed this view. Although the farm produces a wide range of crops, relatively little is currently destined for direct human consumption.
“We are very interested in shifting towards producing more food and less feed wherever possible. However, demand and pricing remain major challenges that we cannot ignore. Both factors currently limit our ability to increase the production of protein crops for human consumption”, says Nele Kempeneers
The event was organized by Run & Harvest and Danish Plant-Based Diplomacy.
The webinar is organised as part en an EU project, which has received grants from the Green Development and Demonstration Programme (GUDP) under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries of Denmark.
