FRiDGE project is all about interregional cooperation, learning from each other and getting to know people who stand behind these good practices that help local entrepreneurs to strive and succeed in a highly competitive food market.
On Tuesday the 1st of February, we had a chance to visit our partners from KErn – Competence Centre for Nutrition from Bavaria, Germany. This time only online, as the pandemic restrictions kept us in our homes, but thankfully it did not influence the quality of our meeting.
Partners from KErn and invited speakers prepared a marvellous, action-packed day, and did not let us be bored even for a moment. They shared their expertise in the area of boosting local food SMEs towards successful growth and answered all our questions that arose during the presentations.
We started our day by learning more about how the city of Kulmbach became a silent capital of brewing beer, and why it should not be silent anymore. In addition to brewing beer, Kulmbach is a real place for food including all the necessary pieces for a functional food system from education and training to research and teaching, from a wide variety of food companies to state institutions and from innovation to tourism. Check out this brochure of the Food Cluster Bavaria & Kulmbach.
Initiative StrohschweinThereafter, we heard a presentation about the “Initiative Strohschwein” run by the Strobel butchery. Thanks to this initiative, animal care and well-being are promoted as associated farmers make sure that their animals have a good and happy life. It is one of the methods of marketing differentiation from big producers. Instead of quantity, pressure is put on quality, and through educating customers about the importance that fair and sustainable treatment, convince them to pay more for a high-quality product.
Food Startup Incubator Weihenstephan
After a break for a much-needed morning coffee, we came back to listen about The Food Startup Incubator Weihenstephan (FSIWS), one of the FRiDGE Good Practices. You can find out more about it on our website. We learned that SMEs from the food sector often start producing food in their own kitchen. However, it is forbidden by law to sell products made in such conditions and lack of budget prevents many great ideas from ever happening. That is why it is so important that a proper production facility could be offered to these entrepreneurs so that they could develop a concept and prototype their product to see how well a test batch sells and if there is a demand for their invention.
Food Startup: Supermampf
We had an opportunity to listen to one of the successful participants of the FSIWS initiative. The CEO of “Supermampf” start-up – makers of a sustainably produced and high-quality convenience food, for which even the packaging is made from recycled and sustainable paper. The business owner explained to us how hard it is to contest big producers on this market and how FSIWS helped his company to gain a foothold in Bavaria.
Trilogy of Platform
As the next point of the programme, we could listen about how the good practice of the Trilogy of Platforms helps to boost the attractiveness and popularity of regional specialities among customers. The Trilogy of Platforms gives local food producers a magnificent way to connect with local consumers. You can read more about it here.
Premium strategy of Bavaria
Right after, Miriam Korber representing LfL State Institute for Agriculture gave us a presentation of the “premium strategy for Food from Bavaria” programme which helps regional producers to gain a country-wide audience. Miriam shared with us details on how this successful project supports local entrepreneurs on their quest to become profitabl
- Organisation and moderation of round tables, symposia or events
- Financial and organisational support for public relations (creation of brochures, flyers, websites)
- Presentation of value chains to the outside world
- Needs-orientated individual case assessment.
Food Cluster Bavaria
As the last presentation of the day, we could hear about the Food Cluster Bavaria and its three programmes: Future Food – focusing on the future of the food industry and new innovative ideas that could disrupt the current standards, Food Startups – especially targeting Bavarian farmers producing food, and Food Lab – experimental food lab, where innovators can test their craziest ideas.
The event was a great success. We can only wish we were in Bavaria in person to experience the beauty of this region and meet all the speakers face to face.
