Most Danes have come across the pink organic rhubarb juice from Bornholms Mosteri. With it’s gorgeous pink colour, sweetness and tanginess, it has quickly become a favorite with both children and adults, and also at the gourmet restaurants where it is often offered as part of the alternative to the wine menu.
However, very few people are aware that Bornholms Mosteri actually began as a project, run by the municipality, intended to create jobs for socially marginalised people who, due to physical or mental disabilities are unable to manage an ordinary full time job.
Through the years, the juice mill has grown too large to remain a municipal occupational project, and was, in June 2013, taken over by two companies from Bornholm – the Michelin-starred restaurant Kadeau, two local fishery companies and Den Sociale Kapitalfond (a commercial fund with a charitable purpose). Fortunately, the new owners adhere to the same values as originally intended: concern for the socially marginalized and the ambition to produce the best possible organic juices. Besides the rhubarb juice, the juice mill also makes a selection of apple juices, raspberry juice, black currant juice and all sorts of other exciting juices.
Bornholms Mosteri gained countrywide notoriety when they, as the first in the country, started producing juice from rhubarb. Since then, several other companies have begun making juice from rhubarb. If you ask director Morten Kolind, whether or not it bothers him that so many companies produce juice from rhubarb now, he responds,”It’s all about the culinary craftsmanship. We have printed our recipe on the labels, but no one has been able to replicate the gorgeous pink colour of our rhubarb juice”.
The idea behind the production process is that it should necessitate as much manual labour as possible, keeping the employees busy who, for one reason or another, are not able to hold an ordinary job. This is also why it is important to keep a close eye on each an every step of the production process.
All the different kinds of juice can be purchased in grocery stores around the island. They are also available at several restaurants. In fact, it is nearly impossible not to come across the juices from Bornholms Mosteri when vacationing on the island – and that’s a stroke of luck, one might say. There is a good chance you might find yourself at an event on the island where Bornholms Mosteri have set up their juice stand. At their juice stand, you can taste their regular juices and even a rhubarb slush ice. It is worth keeping an eye out for what is new at Bornholms Mosteri because the company is continuously developing new products.
When talking about a company built on a such a strong philosophy of social responsibility, it goes without saying that protecting the environment is also an important aspect of the business. Using organic raw materials is essential. Not just for the sake of the environment, but also to put at ease the minds of the consumers and employees of Bornholms Mosteri.
All juices are available in glass bottles, and instead of using the usual disposable packaging made from plastic, the juice producers offer trendy biodegradable packaging made from cardboard.