Practice Abstract - Research and innovation

Public procurement of locally sourced food: a COACH case study – city of Vaxjo, Sweden

The city of Växjö (Sweden) is experimenting with a new procurement model called ‘dynamic food procurement’ (DFP). This model has flexibility in terms of time schedule and the types of products that small-scale farmers can offer: it is possible for them to provide only some of the products requested although in the demanded quantity. This flexibility enables small-scale farmers that meet the minimum criteria to bid for a tender whenever the Municipality issues a request for products. Currently, this system covers 10 % of the fruit and vegetable supply and 15 % of the meat supply but the goal is to progressively increase this percentage. Alongside this, the city of Växjö has provided distribution hubs to facilitate the distribution of food products, especially in the last mile logistics, which are often an obstacle for small producers. Now, small producers can deliver their goods to one single place rather than 300 different sites, bringing substantial benefits for what concerns the logistics and the environmental pollution.
 
Växjö is one of 5 case studies analysed in the Public Procurement toolkit (https://hub.urgenci.net/resource/legal-guide-on-farm-to-fork-procuremen…) to show how it is possible to purchase locally produced food in a legally compliant way with substantial benefits to the local economy and food system resilience and sustainability. Each city has succeeded in strengthening short food supply chains with different procurement strategies that could be replicable in other contexts across Europe.  For more on Växjö and other good practices across Europe, see https://hub.urgenci.net/public-procurement/
Source Project
COACH Collaborative Agri-food Chains: Driving Innovation in Territorial Food Systems and Improving Outcomes for Producers and Consumers
Completed | 2020-2023
Main funding source
Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
Geographical location
United Kingdom
Project details

Project Keywords