by Mai Løvaas/Oi! Trøndersk Mat og Drikke

- This is so much fun! says Kari Øye with a big smile in the Copa-Cogeca conference rooms at 61 Rue de Trèves, situated half a block from The European Commission headquarters in Brussels.

She is a Living Lab participant in the GRASS CEILING project.

She has presented her innovation journey and has received admiration, laughter and applause from the audience in the room. Øye has, with her story of how she and three more women built Havfruenes Mermaids cod liver oil, charmed the listeners. A couple of bottles of fresh cod liver oil from Norway has been in her luggage since Værnes airport, and gets circulated in the room. Everybody wants to taste it. Several people ask if she exports internationally.

Living Lab co-lead Mai Løvaas from Oi! Trøndersk Mat og Drikke (Trøndelag Food and Beverage) presented Kari Øye from Havfruene Mermaids so that she could share her journey from entrepreneur to participant in the EU-project GRASS CEILING. Photo: Maja Farstad

An innovator's journey

The short version of how this all came to be, is that Kari Øye at the age of 62 and right about the time she was retiring, started a business. At this stage in her life her joints and her body started aching, and she didn't like it. She had read that Omega 3 lowered inflammation in the body and that taking it could yield some good health benefits. So she started taking cod liver oil. However, the products she found on the shelf at the store were of really bad quality. The oil had gone stale and tasted awful. 'The burp factor' was high. So, Kari Øye realized she had to do something. 

Four women in the rural area of Inderøy in Norway got together with the business idea of making high quality cod liver oil. Øye's son-in-law greatly helped with formulating and developing the product. As a chemist he had the skills to make a great product.

From the time the cod is caught in the northern Atlantic ocean outside of the outer banks of Lofoten, to the time the cod liver oil is pressed only 24 hours go by.

Today the Havfruene Mermaids cod liver oil is sold online and at Trøndelag Food Festival every year in August.

Kari Øye created her own innovation journey material in English for the showcase, and it was sent to Brussels and the project, where it was printed into posters. 

- It's a light oil of very high quality. No burping - guaranteed! says Øye with a smile.

Øye then went on to share about how in the beginning nobody believed in their business idea. The bank wouldn't give them a loan unless they were willing to mortgage their own homes.

The bank had told them, 'if you don't believe enough in this project to mortage your own homes, then how do you expect us to believe in it?!'

Øye also shares how she thinks older women entrepreneurs are treated with less respect than younger women entrepreneurs.  

Kari Øye is 79 years old, and her business is doing well. Her daughter and grandchildren are all contributing in the running of the business.

In Trøndelag eight rural women innovators in local food production comprise the Norwegian Living Lab

Kari Øye and seven other women entrepreneurs in Trøndelag were recruited to be a part of the European Union project Grass Ceiling. Norway is, as one of nine countries, part of the project. Oi! Trøndersk Mat og Drikke and Ruralis are project partners. Each participating country has their own Living Lab with rural women innovators.

The participants from the Norwegian Living Lab in the Grass Ceiling project: rural women innovators in food production. From left: Torunn Bjerkem from Gullimunn/Kulturgården Bjerkem, Anita Galåen from Galåvolden Gård, Liv Bogen from Hogna Brygg, Marthe Kilen from Fru Nelik, Kari Øye from Havfruene, Turid Mjønesaune from Åstfjordlam and Sissel Langørgen from Høstadsand Gård. Not present when photo was taken: Jenny Domås from Jørem ved Namsen.

Research shows that women who are innovators and run businesses in rural areas, contribute to creating jobs and sustainable and thriving communities across Europe. The topic of women in agriculture and food production is of high priority to the EU. The project is funded by Horizon which is the world's largest research program for research and innovation.

Differences and barriers for women entrepreneurs

As it turns out, rural women innovators do encounter structural challenges and barriers on their paths to creating successful businesses. There is no lack of creativity, innovation, capabilities and hunch for business, but many women entrepreneurs on farms and in small towns experience that they are bumping up against barriers, a grass ceiling of sorts.

For a variety of reasons women may not be able to scale up their businesses, or in many instances they may not want to scale up, and thus loose out on funding and support. Many women entrepreneurs experience being met by the bank differently than men, and women express that they are expected to care for family and children rather than starting their own businesses. Barriers that men don't experience, perhaps?

Brussels is the capital of Belgium, the headquarters of the European Commission, and where they Grass Ceiling-project gathers for annual consortium- and showcase meetings.

European women entrepreneurs and their innovation journeys

Kari Øye from Havfruene Mermaids was invited to Brussels to share about her company and The Norwegian Living Lab. The Grass Ceiling research project runs for three years and will be using various tools to document how women experience being rural innovators, and investigate ways to support women innovators. The project is doing interviews and data collection with stakeholders from banks, innovation consultants and local organizations to hear their perspectives. Interviews are also being made with IT-consultants and digital marketers. 

Kari Øye got to meet Living Lab participants from the other participating countries, and hear what they are working on and what challenges they face. As the women presented their businesses she got to learn about alternative forestry in Sweden, nomadic cattle ranching in Spain, dairy- and egg producers, creative wool product innovators, hemp oil products and rural women working on land regeneration.

- There are so many interesting women here who have created wonderful businesses. Being here feels very rewarding and I have met many genuine people in the Grass Ceiling-project, says Øye after a full day of showcase presentations. 

Soon she travels back to Inderøya in Trøndelag and continues to work towards her goals, just as the other rural women innovators travel back to their homes and businesses to continue working up and through 'the Grass Ceiling.'

The nine rural women innovators who participated in the showcase i Brussels all presented their businesses. Here the posters for Sweden and Spain.

Scotland's poster.

Italy's poster

Croatia's poster

Lithuania's poster

Netherland's poster

Ireland's poster

Read more about GRASS CEILING here.