Urtekram started in 1972. In a time when pioneer spirit, a sense of community and awareness of the environment were starting to appear. When organic food was still in the beginning stages, when coffee from developing countries had not even dreamed of the fact that it would be renamed fair trade and when all this was an idealistic matter of the heart to a few people. But to Urtekram’s founders, Lisbeth Damsgaard and Ronnie McGrail, this time became the beginning of a journey that was going to make Denmark much greener and more aware.

Lisbeth Damsgaard and Ronnie McGrail started this journey with a small herb merchant shop in urban Copenhagen. Here, they sold a little bit of everything, but all of it with emphasis on the natural, simple and pure life style. The entrepreneur spirit quickly seized the two organic pioneers, and soon, the shop has been replaced by the founding of the company Urtekram. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Urtekram and the organic concept in general moved slowly and steadily towards a knowledge that spread beyond the very closed, small circle of former eco enthusiasts. “The greens” as they were also called back then.

In the beginning of the 1990s, a development that helped speed up the penetration of organic products really took off, particularly in larger Danish towns. And Urtekram was in the lead when Coop decided that organic products should really be mainstream.

A dictionary of the Danish language tells us that an “urtekræmmer” is an old-fashioned term for a so-called spice/herb merchant or travelling salesman selling spices, medical herbs, drugs etc. Others say that the “urtekræmmer” used to be a less distinguished version of the grocer, and that he was the one who sold the local products, as opposed to the grocer’s more extravagant processed foods from the overseas colonies.

The founders of Urtekram, Lisbeth Daamsgaard and Ronnie McGrail, actually started out almost like the old herb merchants with a shop in urban Copenhagen. Today, a shop like that would be known as the local health food shop. Back then, they were part of a whole new time spirit, with their focus on organic products, pure ingredients and sustainability. And out of precisely this focus grew the company and the name Urtekram, derived from the original term “urtekræmmer”.