Røros got its first dairy in 1953. This dairy only produced butter. In 1970, Røros Meieri A/L built its own premises in Røros, where Røros Meieriet is located today. From 1977, it was the Tine department in Røros that ran the dairy with the production of several products, from organic sweet milk to condensed milk. Tine eventually laid down in Røros. Four employees teamed up with local organic farmers and founded Rørosmeiriet on 5 January 2001, well supported by the public and with important maternity assistance from Tine Midt-Norge. The four founders Inge Broen, Ola Arvid Feragen, Arnt Langen and Reidar Sommer filled all the roles at the dairy even at the start, and the turnover was around five million. Rørosmeiriet today offers organic food with roots in rich food traditions and good ingredients from the Røros area. They sell through the biggest chains in Norway.
Several brands
Rørosmeieriet has registered both the business name and the logo, in addition to several of the products. They apply early in the idea phase, before they have a final product. Thus, they have a set of trademarks they can use when products are to be launched. In addition, they actively use TM marking on products that are not registered trademarks. They also have geographical designations for products, a system of protected brands administered by the Norwegian Food Foundation.
Rørosmeiriet has chosen a conscious environmental profile, including by having unbleached cartons. Although this means a higher price, it is important to them. They were the first to come up with this, and think it's okay for competitors to copy this because it's good for the environment. In this way, they have managed to reduce their CO2 footprint by 40 %, which they are very pleased with.
– The trademarks clearly increase awareness of holistic branding, and are insurance against simple copying of any successes. (Photo: Marius Rua).
Trond Vilhelm Lund
Trond Vilhelm Lund
Have experienced copying
"We react if someone gets too close to our design and our brand," says Lund. — The milk bottle is a characteristic we use on the milk cartons. We have experienced that competitors have come very close to this, and we have reacted to that. The competitor promised a change in the next reprint, but the change did not materialize. It resulted in us ending a collaboration we had had for a period.
Brands are important when building a brand. They are happy that their logo has achieved a brand awareness of 77 %. Otherwise, dairy products have a common category language, with common colors and designs. For example, the color of cream is yellow. It is still important to stand out.
Conscious IP strategy
Rørosmeieriet wants to protect its trademarks, and has been working on registering them for the past 4 years. They seek early rights so that they have a base of registrations that they can use when they get new products on the market. They have used Onsagers to help them in this process.
Tips for other companies on how they can take care of their rights
- We encourage everyone to include IPR as a natural part of product development work, concludes Lund.
