Direct and regional food marketing initiatives generate additional income and employment for rural regions. This is one of the lessons drawn from the book Nourishing networks: fourteen lessons about creating sustainable food supply chains. This book is the result of an EU-funded research project, coordinated by Wageningen University in the Netherlands, about the role of new food supply chains in sustainable regional development.
In order for new food supply chains to contribute to the sustainable development of rural regions, it is of crucial importance that distinct food products are being produced and marketed. This is the major finding of the SUS-CHAIN project. Distinctiveness can be realized, in several different ways: through product quality attributes as taste or smell, regional embedding of food production and processing, a different organization and governance structure of the food chain and/or incorporation of societal demands.
One of the major challenges in fostering the development of new food supply chains is the integration of policies, rules and regulations, which can tend to be contradictory. For instance, generic food hygiene and safety rules and regulations often pose a significant obstacle for artisanal regional quality production.
Another lesson illustrated by this book is the need to build regional partnerships. This not only implies the creation of strategic alliances between food chain partners, but also the cooperation with and involvement of societal movements and public bodies, such as local governments and chambers of commerce.
Regionally embedded food supply chains contribute to sustainable regional development in a variety of ways: increasing net value added in the region, direct employment opportunities and indirect induced ones through creating synergies with other economic activities, higher levels of job satisfaction, improved self-organizational capacity of rural communities, enhanced trust of consumers in food, and a reduction of food miles. For example, increasing the share of locally and organically produced food procured by the Cornwall National Health Service (UK) for patient, staff and visitor meals has led to a reduction of 250,000 food miles and reducing CO2 emissions associated with the food chain by approximately 75%.
The SUS-CHAIN project brought together a multi-disciplinary team of sociologists, economists and marketing experts from leading European Universities paired with NGOs from seven European countries (Netherlands, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Latvia and Germany). The project, which ran for three and a half years, was managed by Prof. Han Wiskerke, chair and professor of Rural Sociology at Wageningen University. The book Nourishing networks is aimed at an audience of practitioners, advisors and policy-makers. It contains fourteen lessons about creating sustainable food supply chains; each lesson illustrated by a concrete example.
Lesson Food network initiative (country)
Developing a supportive institutional environment Latvian Beef Cattle Breeders Association (Latvia)
Creating space for change De Hoeve pork supply chain (Netherlands)
A strategic alliance with chain partners Biomelk Vlaanderen (Belgium)
Willingness to invest in a shared enterprise Westhoek Hoeveproducten (Belgium)
Mobilising investment capital for scaling up Upländer Bauernmolkerei (Germany)
Anticipating the implications of scaling up NaturaBeef (Switzerland)
A visionary and capable leader Rankas Piens dairy (Latvia)
Building a strong brand Beemsterkaas from the CONO dairy cooperative (Netherlands)
A flexible procurement system for local sourcing Supermarket sourcing of local food (United Kingdom)
Regional marketing as basic security Organic beef of the Cooperativa Agricola Firenzuola (Italy)
Regional embedding as a marketing strategy Tegut supermarket and Rhöngut meat processing (Germany)
Specificity as a key in aligning regional interests Pecorino di Pistoia: raw milk sheep cheese (Italy)
Promotion of regional identity Pain de seigle du Valais AOC (Switzerland)
Public sector food procurement through partner- Cornwall Food Programme (UK)
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