DR reports that Denmark has fewer and fewer apple orchards where consumers can pick fruit themselves, as this year’s season opens at an orchard south of Odense.
The public broadcaster DR reported on August 16, 2026 that the distance between pick-your-own orchards in Denmark keeps growing. The report is built around Lars Andersen, who runs Lindved Frugt south of Odense on Funen.
Andersen grows more than twenty apple varieties, including Cox Orange, Boskoop and Mutzu. He has offered pick-your-own fruit for 26 years, and tells DR that many small orchards have closed because turnover was too low. According to Andersen, the orchards that remain have become larger and more efficient.
DR notes that no specific statistics exist for farm shops or pick-your-own orchards. Madkulturen, an independent institution under the Ministry of Business, points instead to a general decline in fruit growing and in the number of hectares used for fruit.
Judith Kyst, director of Madkulturen, describes the development as drastic, with fewer orchards and fewer hectares of fruit production. Per DR, she says the clear consequence is that fewer places are left where people can pick their own fruit.
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Kyst adds that pick-your-own orchards are not a solution to the large fall in Danish fruit and vegetable production. As stated by Kyst, they remain an important link between the people who grow food and the people who eat it, showing that real people stand behind supermarket products.
Shrinking fruit acreage
Effektivt Landbrug reported in May 2025 that the cultivated area for fruit and berries had fallen by 59 percent since 2008. The same article stated that 11 percent of Denmark’s farmed land was used for fruit, vegetables and pulses. Official acreage and harvest data are published by Statistics Denmark, whose documentation was updated in May 2026.
The trend toward larger, more intensive orchards has also been documented by the trade press. In December 2024, Effektivt Landbrug described a project aiming to raise tree density from about 3,000 to up to 4,500 trees per hectare. In an April 2025 commentary, Madkulturen called the situation a silent crisis, citing low profitability and rising costs for growers.
The report comes as the 2026 apple season begins. DR writes that the early Discovery variety is ready to harvest in mid-August and opens the season this week at Lindved Frugt. Andersen tells DR that Denmark has a long tradition of fine fruit, and that he hopes commercial fruit growing will continue.
In July 2026, DR reported a sharp fall in Danish fruit and vegetable production, where Kyst warned of a quiet phasing out of domestic supply. In October 2025, Økologisk.nu reported that 31 actors had joined an alliance to lift Danish production and consumption of fruit and vegetables, with targets for 2035 and 2050.
