Acronym: ÖkoTrans
With the coalition agreement concluded in May 2016, the state government has committed itself to promoting and further developing organic farming in Baden-Württemberg (BW). Several model projects are already underway in BW that focus on promoting organic food in out-of-home catering, including the model projects "Tall Kitchen - Good Food" or "Good Food in State Canteens". The aim of the projects is to optimize catering in state canteens by offering health-promoting, sustainable and enjoyable food.
At present, the focus of these projects is mainly on the operators and employees of out-of-home catering companies, who receive targeted training. Model projects from Denmark, France and Austria to increase the share of organic products in out-of-home catering systems have shown that in addition to these key players, other central stakeholder groups along the value chain should also be considered.
Since 2018, nine organic model regions (Bio-Musterregion) have been established in BW to raise awareness of regional organic food, encourage cooperation and also to promote organic farming in BW. The ÖkoTrans research group - consisting of the Reutlingen and Rottenburg Universities of Applied Sciences - is focusing on this synergy of regional-organic food production and a model market based on out-of-home catering. The aim is to support and expand organic farming in the long term by establishing holistic, regional value-added chains.
Within the framework of the three-year project Organic Farming in the Context of Social, Economic and Ecological Transformation Processes (ÖkoTrans), regional value-added chains of organic farming and of the out-of-home catering industry will be modelled in order to analyze the potential of the out-of-home catering in Baden-Württemberg as a market for regionally produced organic food and to investigate the complex interaction of the stakeholders involved (including farms, distribution and logistics partners, processing companies and canteens in public ownership). There are several main barriers which currently inhibit the expansion of organic farming in BW and the distribution of regional organic food in the out-of-home catering industry. In close cooperation with the stakeholder groups possible solutions will be developed and new business models will be designed. Those will promote organic farming in BW - among other things by reducing cultivation risks and increasing the sale of regional organic food in the out-of-home catering industry.
