History – past and present

In 1887 the first cooperatively owned dairy, known as Trolleborg, was built on Samsø. Like many other dairies in Denmark, it closed down around 1960, and the buildings were then bought by the egg exporter Dansk Andel Æggeeksport, which sorted and sold eggs produced on Samsø.

But due to excess capacity, the company began sorting and selling asparagus grown on Samsø. The asparaguses that could not be sold during the season were tinned, and this was the start of manufacturing of a large number of other pickled products such as pickled cucumbers, red beets and marmalade.

In 1974 the company, having been renamed Samsø Konservesfabrik, was sold to FDB (today COOP) and an association of local vegetable growers on Samsø.

In 1999 the company was bought by the feeds and fertilizer company DLG as fully owned subsidiary. In 2013 the name was changed to Samsø Konservesfabrik, and the following year a number of large-scale investments in the company’s manufacturing capacity and building stock were made. In 2016 the company was bought by the present principal shareholder, the equity fund Erhvervsinvest.

Samsø Syltefabrik maintains its strong local roots, as can be seen in the fact that many of the growers who used to be co-owners have continued as suppliers to this day.

Moreover, Samsø Konservesfabrik is an important employer on Samsø with up to 70 employees during the high season and an additional 30 jobs in related sectors such as transport and craftsman’s enterprises.

Today Samsø Konservesfabrik has an efficient production plant at our disposal, highly flexible and with the capacity to experiment with new produce, product development and alternative processes. The products are sold under the company’s own brand names such as, SAMSØ SYLTEFABRIK, SAMSØ KONSERVESFABRIK, TROLLEBORG and under brands owned by others, such as LØGISMOSE, MEYER, PRINCIP, HOLM, ”SYLTET PÅ SAMSØ” and many others. Throughout our history, it has always been of paramount importance to us to promote the local vegetables from Samsø. And this has continued right up to the present. Today we receive 5,000 tonnes of produce a year, such as  red cabbage and red beets, from local growers.

The above newspaper cuttings are from Samsø local history archive.

About Erhvervsinvest

Erhvervsinvest invests in small and medium-sized Danish enterprises which require capital and competences in connection with successions and change of ownership. Among Erhvervsinvest’s investors are: Nykredit, AP Pension, Sparekassen Kronjylland, Middelfart Sparekasse, Spar Nord Bank, PFA and CW Obel. Read more at erhvervsinvest.dk

Trolleborg Mejeri, 1894

Photo: Samsø local history archive

Trolleborg Mejeri, 1957

Photo: Aalborg Luftfoto/Det Kgl. Bibliotek.

Samsø Konservesfabrik

Trolleborg, 1974

Photo: Samsø local history archive

Samsø Syltefabrik

Trolleborg, 2016

Photo: Jeanette Philipsen