What is food craftsmanship?
Food craft is a relatively new term. It means that the methods of production and processing are authentic and traditional. According to the basic principles of food craft the products should not include preservatives or additives. The ingredients should be local and their origin should be known.
The production of food craft usually happens in small-scale at the entrepreneurs own premises. The products are unique, flavourful, high-quality and have a clear identity. The concept of food craft is based on traditional knowledge and skill throughout the production chain. Food craftsmanship highlights traditional, local food and creates innovative food products.
In the Nordic countries, the concept of food craft has been developed by Swedish Food Crafts Centre Eldrimner.
What is Food Craftsmanship FC?
The national food craftsmanship competitions aim for preserving, developing and publicizing traditional food cultures. The intention is to cherish the tradition of food craft and maintain its value.
By participating in the competitions, the entrepreneurs can find new motivation for their work. They get feedback about the competing products, exposure for potential customers and a possibility to utilize the experience in their marketing. The competition is also a great opportunity for networking with other entrepreneurs and actors in the food industry.
Another goal with the national competitions is to increase the consumers knowledge about food craft on local and national levels which also contributes to development, sales and new jobs in the industry.
The Food Craft Swedish Championship has been arranged by Eldrimned since 1997. In Finland, a Finland-Swedish co-operation project Rannikon Ruoka (Coastal Food) organized the first three competitions in 2016-2018.
The goal is to maintain a common Nordic line on the competition rules, in order to effectively develop and spread information about food craft. The differences between countries in legislation and public knowledge about food craft, as well as local food traditions may cause certain differences in e.g. competition categories. Yet, the core values, as well as interpretation about the food craft concept should remain the same.
Since 2019, The Food Craftsmanship Association in Finland has been the owner of the rules of the national championship in Finland. The association is also responsible for developing the rules and finding an arranger for the competition each year.
Who can participate in the Food Craftsmanship FC?
The target group for the Food Craftsmanship FC competition are entrepreneurs who produce handcrafted food products in any of the competition categories. Participation in the competition or labeling one’s business as food craft, does not require any special education from the entrepreneur.
The requirements for participation are that the participant has a registered business and makes the products according to the principles set in the competition rules. The product must also be on sale and produced in approved food premises.