Randers, 18 April 2013
The Visitors’ Service in Horsens was ready to give visitors a guided tour of the slaughterhouse when 460 runners took part in last weekend’s ‘Slagteriløbet’ – or ‘Slaughterhouse Run’.
And it wasn’t just the runners who were setting records that day. A count following the event shows that the slaughterhouse in Horsens has now had a total of 175,000 visitors since it opened in May 2005.
This was good news for Corporate Visitor Manager Agnete Poulsen, who says that the guides at the slaughterhouse are still working flat out to look after the large numbers of visitors.
- After a period with slightly lower activity levels, in the past year we have again exceeded 21,000 visitors over a 12-month period, so we are having a good run, says Agnete Poulsen
The distribution of visitors to the slaughterhouse varies a lot, with Danish Crown’s cooperative members, customers, consumers and students usually dominating the statistics.
- However, for a while we have seen an increase in the number of journalists, politicians and opinion-formers who want to see for themselves what a modern, high-tech slaughterhouse looks like, says Agnete Poulsen.
Slaughterhouse at museum
Agnete Poulsen heads a department which often assists photographers, TV crews and other visitors with special requirements.
- In October, the slaughterhouse was the venue for the Confederation of Danish Industry’s and the Central Organisation of Industrial Employees in Denmark’s big celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of Denmark joining EU. Recently we received representatives of the Maritime Museum of Denmark, which is opening on 29 June in Elsinore north of Copenhagen. They took photographs and were told the history of the slaughterhouse in Horsens and Danish slaughterhouses in general. The idea is that Danish Crown in Horsens will be part of the museum's permanent exhibition, says Agnete Poulsen.
The next big event is in June, when the slaughterhouse in Horsens welcomes 300 pig producers from all over Europe who are members of European Pig Producers.