Museum guests as contributors to regional food innovation

Museums, science centres and other visitor attractions find inspiration for development from many sources, including their own guests. This article describes a guest experiment undertaken at a Danish marine science centre. It was found that mussels represent a captivating topic of interpretation with many aspects. However, guests are generally very conservative in their feedback. The benefits of involving and observing guests are primarily found in the phenomenological insight into the social contexts of food that this involvement and observation afford, particularly in the relationships between children and their parents. This study illustrates the potential of interpretative elements in more comprehensive regional line-mussel production and branding initiatives, including at the science centre and beyond. We suggest that further advanced phenomenological studies can be informative for all actors involved in regional mussel cultivation, distribution and marketing, which also include regional business actors and university partners.