ABOUT foodpeople

At Foodpeople, everything we do is driven by flavour. Our most important ingredient is time, as great taste cannot be rushed. Whether it is time spent perfecting the ideal structure, allowing the dough to ferment slowly for deeper flavour, or making everything from scratch as true craftsmanship demands.

Foodpeople aims to be a sustainable and value-driven Danish food company, setting trends without compromising.

Foodpeople strives to be an uncompromising and trend-setting food company that challenges the established food industry. We are a company where proud traditions and a deep passion for food come together.

Naturally, we are organic. We believe you can taste true craftsmanship and honest ingredients. Our foundation is rooted in Italian and Danish artisanal and gourmet traditions, originating from our Copenhagen-based bakery collective consisting of Il Fornaio, Jalm&B, and Trianon.

Il Fornaio represents uncompromising Italian pastries and specialties, while Jalm&B brings a contemporary twist to Nordic baking traditions. Trianon represents classic Danish pastries and baked goods.

Responsibility

Foodpeople is strongly driven by attitudes and values. Taking responsibility is therefore fundamental to our identity and the way we operate. We were Denmark’s first slow food bakery, challenging the industrialization of the baking industry as early as the 1980s. We were also among the first to convert entirely to organic production once the availability and quality of organic ingredients made this possible in the early 2000s.

We are a diverse business with more than 12 different nationalities represented within our company, and we work closely with municipalities and public authorities to support the inclusion of unemployed individuals, vulnerable young people, and refugees. Our craftsmanship and sustainability goals are constantly evolving and should, in our view, never stagnate. Our strategy has developed from an uncompromising commitment to organic production to also include upcycling, foodwaste reduction, 100% wind-powered electricity, and, importantly, inspiration and knowledge sharing.

In our vision statement, we express our ambition to challenge the established Danish food industry. Therefore, our focus extends beyond organic production to a continuous commitment to innovation and development.

Bread is, by nature, plant-based and one of the most climate-friendly foods available. This has been reinforced through our dialogue with Concito, which confirms that our greatest opportunities for creating positive sustainable impact lie in energy optimization and addressing food waste.

Working with our craft, applying a chef’s approach to baking, sourcing excellent ingredients, and collaborating with like-minded partners have always been the foundation of our business, dating back to the early days of Il Fornaio in 1988. This foundation has proven to be a strength in our work: developing solutions that are also financially sustainable while challenging the established food system. Under the shared concept of Genbrød [“re-bread”], we develop products in partnership with like-minded food producers. These partnerships take many forms - from some of Denmark’s world-renowned chefs to breweries, organic juice and ice cream producers, and cheese makers. The result is a range of new and flavorful products that all share one common goal: significantly reducing food waste.

Naturally, we also work actively with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, primarily to ensure a holistic focus and to facilitate knowledge sharing across the industry.

OUR STORY

Foodpeople became a reality in 2016, when owner and CEO Susanne Boye Nielsen and the founder of Il Fornaio acquired the historic Trianon bakery, originally established by master baker Jørgen Anton Ludvig Vinther in 1940.

Foodpeople was founded as a bakery collective consisting of Il Fornaio, Jalm&B, and Trianon. The company is built primarily on the foundation and uncompromising approach to craftsmanship and ingredients established by Il Fornaio. Jalm&B was created as part of the merger and combines the best from both worlds with a contemporary Copenhagen twist and entrepreneurial spirit.

The company’s history includes many milestones. Il Fornaio was founded in 1988 by Elvio Milleri and Edelvita Santos Milleri. The couple had already been running the restaurant Era Ora since 1983, and in 1997 Era Ora received its first Michelin star - a distinction and level of excellence the restaurant has maintained ever since, now with a total of 23 stars awarded over the years.

The connection to the restaurant world also highlights Il Fornaio’s - and later Foodpeople’s - chef-driven approach to the baking craft. Today, we employ several chefs who work as culinary ambassadors and product developers.