Sustainable organic food supply chain
Partners of the operation:
Lead partner: LAG At the good people 2020, Renkovci 8, 9224 Turnišče.
Participating partners as members of the LAG At the good people 2020:
- INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES, RENKOVCI, Renkovci 8, 9224 Turnišče;
- Development agency Sinergija d.o.o. , PE Renkovci, Renkovci 8, 9224 Turnišče;
- TURNIŠČE PRIMARY SCHOOL, Prešernova ulica 2, 9224 Turnišče;
- Association for sustainability of resources SI.ENERGIJA, Renkovci 8, 9224 Turnišče.
Project partners 1: LAG PRLEKIJA, Prešernova ulica 2, 9240 Ljutomer.
Collaborating partners as members of LAG Prlekija:
- JEDRO, institute for the development of social economy, Ljutomer, so.p., Ptujska cesta 14, 9240 Ljutomer;
- Organic farm Kovačič, Stara cesta 57, 9240 Ljutomer.
Project partners 2: LAG Goričko 2020, Martjanci 36, 9221 Martjanci.
Participating partners as members of LAG Goričko 2020:
- VIDOV BREJG, Tatjana Buzeti- NDDK, Fokovci 77, 9208 Fokovci;
- Smart house Martjanci, Martjanci 36, 9221 Martjanci;
- Štefan Gjergjek – holder of complementary activities on the farm, Kovačevci 28, 9264. Castle
Project Partner 3: IMRO-DDKK, Környezetvédelmi Nonprofit Korlátolt Felelősségű Tarsaság, Petőfi Sándor 17 – 19, 8800 Nagykanizsa.
Thematic area of action of the Local Development Strategy:
- Job creation;
- Environmental protection and nature conservation.
Specific objectives of the operation:
- Increase the number of organic producers and products by employing people from vulnerable target groups;
- Reduce environmental burdens due to the transport and packaging of organic products with a digitally supported innovative logistics model for the sale of organic products from smaller producers;
- To connect smaller organic producers in partnership with companies that operate according to the principles of the social economy and employ hard-to-employ individuals from vulnerable target groups to facilitate the coordination of workforce needs and the meaningful employment of these individuals who wish to do so;
- Increase the training and number of employees from vulnerable target groups in organic production, processing and distribution;
- Increase the visibility of partner LAG areas and organic brands that come from this area;
- Facilitate faster development of project partners by organizing events aimed at learning about and transferring good practices at the national and international level.
Purpose of the operation:
The common goal of the LAG cooperation operation is to promote the sustainable production and processing of organic food in the area of the participating LAG and indirectly in SLO and EC. Preparing this food for the market and increasing its sales will strengthen the economic situation and at the same time, through the promotion of the consumption of a healthier diet, will also improve the quality of life of rural residents in the participating LAG areas. By investing in greater self-sufficiency with energy from renewable sources and investments in the efficient use of energy and shortening supply routes, we will contribute to mitigating climate change resulting from the production, processing and distribution of organic products. The way in which we want to achieve these goals involves the involvement of companies and individuals that operate according to the principles of social entrepreneurship, which will also have a favorable impact on the employment and social inclusion of vulnerable target groups in the area. In the partner LAG areas, we are still facing depopulation, especially rural areas, due to fewer and fewer business opportunities and employment opportunities for the active population, and especially in the field of employment, certain vulnerable target groups are affected, such as long-term unemployed persons with disabilities, who often employment is also made impossible by the fact that they are also slightly older and/or women. However, the area of the participating LAG Prekmurje and Prlekija is not without potential and basic features, especially in the fields of tourism and food production with a higher added value and “premium” foods, which must be grown, processed and distributed in the most sustainable way possible and sold to tourists, local residents and in other nearby regional and national markets. In order for the LAG areas in the project to take advantage of this potential, it is necessary to tackle some challenges that may be even more stubborn at the moment than they were 30 years ago. The first such challenge is certainly the lack of a good and cost- and personnel-controllable marketing logistics infrastructure (tangible and digital) for small producers, each of whom, in addition to the production and development of food and other organic products, cannot optimally perform all sales functions, and often they are not even aware of the actual cost of their time invested in sales and distribution, not to mention financial and other risks. This prevents the development and increase of the production of organic products and the achievement of optimal prices for them on the market, which together means a lower added value for these products. These are products that are mostly of top quality and are recognized as such on the local and national market. In order to establish a sustainable supply chain, we need to solve the problem of the non-existent sales and logistics infrastructure for small producers in the participating LAG areas, which must first be able to collect this food in one place, pack it and deliver it from the producers to the customers quickly, safely, efficiently (cheaply) and on what a more sustainable way. Therefore, in the project, we will establish a sustainable supply chain with a sales and logistics model of receiving, packing and sending these products, which will be the least burdensome on both producers and buyers. The model will thus develop and upgrade the existing network of diverse producers of high-quality food, called Local gurus from the area of participating LAG, within the framework of which members will jointly develop and use the logistics model of receiving, packaging and distributing their products to customers throughout Slovenia and neighboring European countries. regions in a sustainable and socially inclusive manner. The next challenge in the area of the participating LAGs is to ensure the labor force required for the production of quality organic food, which is more labor-intensive compared to the production of food in other ways. In recent years, in the areas of the participating LAG, we have been facing a lack of seasonal labor, as well as labor throughout the year for the production of organic food, while on the other hand, we have an entire “army” of long-term unemployed, who usually have some other characteristic, which is an obstacle to employment (disability, low education, age, being female or a combination of these characteristics) and have great difficulty finding employment with “regular” employers (as opposed to employers operating according to the principles of the social economy). The project builds on the results of previous projects, especially the project Mitigation of climate change through social innovations, in which the above-mentioned network of companies and individuals operating according to the principles of the social economy under the brand name Local gurus and with the slogan “We can and know differently” was established. A member and partner in this project, Zavod TRS Renkovci, with the product Sauce with tomatoes, in cooperation with Ana Roš, the company Paradajz d.o.o. (tomato Lušt, which is also in Renkovci) and the retail chain Tuš, won the prestigious award for one of the three products that are the most innovative in the field of sustainability for 2022, awarded by the Institute for Nutrition in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia. Other members of the Local Gurus network also participate in supplying the best quality raw materials for the award-winning product. The members of this network employ individuals from vulnerable target groups, especially the disabled and the long-term unemployed, who are looking for meaningful employment and raise awareness of employment opportunities in companies that employ such individuals (in our experience, many of them do not even know what the employment opportunities are in various forms of institutions, which employ individuals from vulnerable target groups under special programs). Therefore, in cooperation with rehabilitation institutions and the Employment Agency of the Republic of Slovenia and other regional stakeholders, we will look for suitable people for such work in the production, processing and distribution of organic food, and train them appropriately for work in these activities at project partners who already have established production and processing organic food, and in the project we will extend these knowledge and skills to logistics, promotion and sale of organic products. The third challenge is related to mitigating climate change and adapting to it through more efficient energy use and energy production from renewable sources for the production, processing and distribution of high-quality food and other organic products from smaller producers in the participating LAG areas. Partners who already participate in these processes are increasingly aware of the importance of efficient energy management to minimize the burden of greenhouse gases on the environment, in accordance with the philosophy of sustainable production, as well as to manage the ever-increasing energy costs. For this reason, the project will establish two pilot locations for self-supply of electricity from renewable sources (solar energy) with the possibility of storing excess energy for later use in batteries. With this, we want to minimize the impact of our activity on climate change through reduced energy use and our own production of energy from renewable sources, and thus also reduce the costs of logistics and storage of products intended for sale in the logistics center and collection points. These places are entry points for food and other organic products and need to maintain temperature regimes to maintain the suitability and quality of food for further distribution and are therefore energy intensive. That’s why we want to establish the production of our own electricity from renewable sources at these points – solar power plants. Through the project activities, we also want to motivate as many producers of high-quality food and other organic products from the participating LAG areas as possible to join the existing network of producers who operate according to the principles of the social economy Local gurus and start using the emerging sales logistics model and infrastructure for greater and more effective promotion and selling their products to wider markets with higher added value. Therefore, in the project we will also develop and prepare for the market at least 6 new, innovative ecological products, which the project partners will develop according to the principles of the circular economy in such a way that the complete material cycle of all product components, including packaging and distribution, will be taken into account already during the design of the product , to reduce waste to a minimum. These products will then be produced and distributed to the greatest extent possible by employed disabled people from the Local Gurus network, which will open up new employment opportunities and contribute to greater social inclusion and equality of these vulnerable groups compared to others.
Operation indicators:
- Number of events on the importance of reducing the environmental load with greenhouse gases, which include the efficient use of energy and the utilization of endogenous energy potentials: 3;
- Number of educational/awareness activities carried out: 1;
- Number of new innovative partnerships: 1;
- Number of new local products and services: 6;
- Number of events (trainings and activities for all three sectors) on the importance of reducing the burden on the environment with greenhouse gases, which include the efficient use of energy and the utilization of endogenous energy potentials: 3;
- Number of innovative partnerships also in short supply chains: 1;
- Number of inhabitants involved in the use of RES and URE: 20;
- Number of stakeholders at the local level involved in the implementation of CLLD projects: 5.
Results of the operation:
- Acquisition and use of knowledge (education and workshops) for the selection of packaging according to the principles of the circular economy for organic products and learning about innovative methods of packaging and distribution of these products;
- Acquiring knowledge in the field of developing organic products with high nutritional value (as little heat treatment as possible, as few additives as possible, …) and certification of organic products, as well as a training workshop on the topic of presentation and serving of organic foods;
- The transfer and application of this knowledge in practice in the concrete development of organic products at project partners;
- Development of new innovative organic products for the market according to the principles of the circular economy (2 products for each participating Slovenian LAG). Obtaining an organic certificate for all 6 products and testing them on the market; Promotion of organic production and processing to various target groups of the project – growers and processors, institutional buyers (public institutions, tourist accommodation, restaurants) and consumers in general with the aim of increasing the production and consumption of organic food among all target groups;
- Greater awareness of the population of partner LAG areas about the importance of environmental sustainability in all aspects of life, with an emphasis on organic agriculture and efficient use of energy from renewable sources. The second focus will be on raising awareness among the population about climate change, how to mitigate it and how to prepare and adapt to it in the field of food production, processing and distribution;
- Aware and qualified individuals from vulnerable target groups about the possibilities of meaningful employment within the social economy in the field of organic agriculture;
- A calendar of labor needs, which will allow all stakeholders to more easily coordinate labor needs throughout the season and thus provide a better possibility of regular employment of seasonal labor;
- An advanced, digitally supported sustainable model for logistics (ordering, delivery, storage, packaging, dispatch), which will enable greater sales of organic products from smaller producers from the area of participating LAGs and less burden on people and the environment with three collection points;
- More effective connection of smaller local suppliers with existing local sellers and end customers through the collection and logistics center with the aim of digitizing the processes from order to collection at the seller’s warehouse or delivery to the customer’s home address;
- Upgraded the existing local network of institutions operating according to social economy principles with new organic producers;
- Greater visibility of the LAG area and all partners in the project, dissemination of project results for the benefit of the project’s target groups and the population of partner LAG areas, and the promotion of CLLD rural development programs;
- Improved visibility of the area as an area where quality food is produced and greater visibility of individual brands from the area of partner LAGs.
The total value of the operation in the area of the LAG At the good people 2020 in EUR: 117,484.39
The amount of co-financing of the operation in the area of LAG At the good people 2020 in EUR: 99,861.74
The total eligible value of the operation in EUR: 351,825.46
The total amount of co-financing of the operation in EUR: 299,051 ,64
European Commission website: https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rural-development-2014-2020/index_sl.htm
The Rural Development Program website: https://www.program-podezelja.si/
The website of LAG At good people 2020: http://www.las-pridobrihljudeh.si/prva-stran/
