PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND AIM

Name of the project: B2B distribution model supporting local food sector in Baltic Sea region rural areas - Baltic Sea Food

Project description, its aims and results:
Local food producers and farmers in BSR rural areas are mainly small family businesses, who prefer to organize the sales through face-to-face contact and by phone. The market area of local food producers is usually their own home region. In many regions they have established local food networks to cooperate for marketing and information exchange.
Local food nets in BSR region have highlighted the need for cost-efficient distribution solutions for delivering food products from farms to local restaurants/tourism farms/shops/industries. The objective of current project is to design a sustainable and transferable business model for B2B distribution applicable for local food nets established by local food producers and providers in BSR rural areas. Themodel enables to establish smooth short supply chains in local and regional level offering opportunities for growth and improved business performance to SME's acting in local food sector in rural areas.
The main expected result is improved capacity of national and regional organizations from 10 countries to support local food networks from BSR area interested in launching B2B distribution of local food products in business model and process innovation.

Project partners:

  • The Ministry of Rural Affairs of theRepublic of Estonia (Estonia)
  • Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce (Estonia)
  • Estonian RuralTourism Organisation (Estonia)
  • Latvian Country Tourism Association (Latvia)
  • Latvian Agricultural Organiztion Cooperation Council (Latvia)
  • Lithuanian Countryside Tourism Association (Lihtuania)
  • "Polish Nature" Foundation (Poland)
  • Mecklenburg-Vorpommen Tourist Board (Germany)
  • Business Region Esbjerg (Denmark)
  • Norwegian Rural Tourism and Local Food Association - HANEN (Norway)
  • Ystad Municipality (Sweden)
  • Lahti University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
  • Pskov Agrotechnical College (RussianFederation)
  • State Committee of the Pskov region for economic development and investment policy (Russian Federation)

Project budget:
Total project budget 2 436 479 EUR, including ERDF support 1 624 240,15 EUR, Norwegian support 144 454 EUR and ENI support 45 239,55 EUR.

Project period: 01.10.2017 – 31.03.2021