We went to the county Vestfold in order to visit two producers of poultry, Stangekylling, meaning Stange chicken, and Gårdsand, meaning Farm duck as a part of our soil to table project.
Stange chicken
Stangekylling, which is located near a town called Tonsberg, is known for its slowly grown and tasty chickens which are appreciated among restaurants in and around Oslo. The founder of Stangekylling, Arnt Harald Stange, travelled for several years to Oslo in order to deliver his products directly to the restaurants, while a transportation company is doing this job now. Mr. Stange lets his chickens grow for 55 days while being fed with a specially composed mixture made at a local mill in Vestfold before being slaughtered. In comparison, chickens from the largest producer of chickens in Norway called Prior let their chickens live for 29 days before slaughter.
Market access
Stangekylling have been developing quality sauces for some time and now they are trying to get their products out to the consumers. Marketing their products is the main challenge for all small-scale producers which also apply to the sauces and juices from Stangekylling. Having 4 big supermarket chains in Norway, each small-scale producer gets a quarter of an hour to present their products. If they are approved, they also have to pay a large amount of money in order to sell their products in the supermarkets. We really hope that Stangekylling will succeed in presenting their products to the supermarket chains and then on to the consumers.
Gårdsand – control and quality in all stages
Gårdsand is located in the countryside in a place called Revetal in the county Vestfold. 5 farmers work together in a cooperative called Gårdsand and they import ducks from a company called Cherry Valley in the U.K. When the ducklings arrive in Norway, one of the farms receives them and let them stay in quarantine for 10 weeks. Regular visits by vets are conducted, while the farmer also monitors the health of the ducklings and take out any ill ones. Each of the five farmers has his own specialty, which all in all leads to a safe way of production. Everything is under control from the feed to hatching of the eggs to the ducks which are ready for slaughter. It’s great to see farmers where pride of work and modern technology go hand in hand so well.
Safe zones, meticulous hygiene, good routines, and expert knowledge was our impression after having visited Hans Olav Torp, one of the five farmers in the cooperative Gårdsand. We got to see a computer-controlled hatching machine, set up and controlled by Mr. Torp, who having worked with electro-mechanical devices in the industry, knows how to set up and operate such advanced equipment. It was great to see people who leave nothing to chance producing food and doing what they can in order to deliver high quality products.
