Corona crisis leads to cooperation and ingenuity in Limburg agri-food sector

A month ago, Kiempunt collected many great initiatives from the Limburg agri-food sector that arose in the early days of the corona crisis. It is now clear that this is not a short-lived crisis and that the consequences of the virus may be irreversible. With that, waiting and sitting still does not seem to be an option for anyone and certainly not for the entrepreneur. What are the creative, innovative and generous ideas among Limburg farmers and food professionals, two months after the first government measures?

Regional and Healthy

To start, let's look back at some of the initiatives from our previous overview. For example, how are things going with Support Your Locals? This major national campaign has drawn plenty of attention to supporting local entrepreneurs by purchasing their local products. On the associated website Dutch people can search by province for places to buy fresh products from the region. A month ago, only one initiative from Limburg could be found on this page, but now there are already fourteen. You will find offers of packages filled with asparagus, fruit, dairy or beef and meal boxes for the complete barbecue or 4-course dinner. A new initiative registration is also still possible.

In addition to the national Support Your Locals, the LLTB also continues to update the own list of addresses of farm stores and other local outlets. Recently the hundredth address was added. And on the website La Saison Culinaires, consumers can find and buy Limburg regional dishes, regional products and wines.

That regional products are in demand confirms a article by Dagblad De Limburger. As a cause it mentions on the one hand the call to support local entrepreneurs, but also the growing need for healthy food. Marcel Jacobs, of People's Farm from Maasbree, introduced long before the corona crisis 't Verskratje, a vegetable package for four days that is compiled weekly with products from the People's Farm vegetable garden. Since the corona crisis, he has seen an increase in new customers, who are specifically looking for products to increase their resistance.

The same says Dorien Heijnen of Fruit Company Heijnen in Roggel; the crowds at the farm store have increased significantly since the corona crisis with people asking about healthy food. But not all customers want to get involved in this rush, so the Heijnen family decided to offer an alternative: "We had been talking among ourselves about starting a webshop, but had not been serious about it yet. The corona crisis has accelerated everything and for several weeks now customers have been able to order from our website and pick up their groceries from a separate pick-up counter at an agreed time. The webshop is running well and so we have fortunately been able to meet the wishes of a number of customers."

The growing demand for healthy regional products has even led to a new, larger building and additional staff at Boerschappen from Breda. The Brabant-based company also has customers in Limburg, whom it hopes will be able to offer products from Limburg producers in the near future.

Vitamin C Action

Another initiative we came across in the first article is the Vitamin C Action by Limburg-based caterer Ki van de Ven. This charity action has continued since last month with great success. The counter now stands at over 20,000 kilograms of donated fruit and vegetables! On the Facebook page 'Met Fruit Erop Uit' two weeks ago, an impressive intermediate score was given of participating entrepreneurs:

• jam, juice, beer, syrup and fruit from 't Breusjterhöfke in Eijsden
• vegetables and fruit at auction prices from 't Vitamientje from Gronsveld
• 240 French cheeses and more than 250 boxes of crackers from Kazerij Verschuren in Eijsden
• 150 kg of special cheeses from Tom Miesen in Maastricht
• 20 buckets of fruit filling, 100 kg apples and more apples at auction prices from Inno-Fruit in Sint-Geertruid
• 100 bottles of olive oil (vitamin C private label) from Puur Olijf in Spaubeek
• 20.000 kg of potatoes from Landbouwbedrijf Hameleers in Wijlre

All these products are distributed to 17 care institutions, the Maastricht UMC+ Emergency Department, the Maastricht Salvation Army, Voedselbank Limburg, Ronald McDonald, Caritas 045 and Zjeele Wawwel in Maastricht. Thousands of mouths have already been fed thanks to these generous donations. You can still donate, either in the form of food or in the form of financial resources.

Home sales, drive in and vending machines

A growing number of companies are choosing to offer fresh produce from a vending machine, home sale point or drive in. One of those companies is Ria Joosten Catering. In our article last month, we wrote about how Ria Joosten made meals for patients and staff of a hospice in Central Limburg. The creative entrepreneur did not leave it at that and worked out new ideas to continue her work. At her own location Proeflokaal Limburg in nature reserve De Peel, she opened the 'StrawberRia Drive In' during King's Day, Liberation Day and Mother's Day. Fresh strawberries from Erik van Haandel of Het Zomerkoninkje from Egchel were sold on waffles, in smoothies and with ice cream or whipped cream. The success of the StrawberRia is now followed up with the FrieteRia. On May 16 and 17 at Proeflokaal Limburg, customers can drive past the counter in a car for a portion of luxury fries.

A similar initiative is the Sardberries Drive-In in Nederweert. The initiative where customers can buy strawberries with whipped cream, milkshakes or smoothies from their car or bike has moved twice, but now seems to have found a stable spot on the grounds of a petrol station. On Mother's Day, there was another storm and not enough strawberries to supply all customers until the end of the day. Also the Fruity Delicacies Drive In in Voerendaal, the Aardbees Avenue in Sittard (with strawberries from Verstappen in Roggel) and the Sweet Strawberry Drive-In in Echt are success stories. Landgoed Kasteel Limbricht even organizes a strawberry tour, a photo scavenger hunt with four stops during which strawberry treats can be enjoyed.

That customers sometimes see buying fresh produce as a fun outing was something Luc Linders of Linders Asparagus & Rhubarb from Beringe also noticed. Due to the corona crisis, the plans for online sales of the asparagus were accelerated. A website was launched where customers could place an order, which could then be picked up or delivered to their homes. However, it turned out that it was not online orders, but sales from home that increased unprecedentedly compared to previous years. This is partly due to the extra effort on marketing that the company is applying. In a podcast by Business Innovation Team Limburg, Luc Linders talks more about how he is steering his company through the corona crisis.

Vending machines with fresh products have also been doing well with consumers since the start of the corona crisis. The new fresh food vending machine at the barn of dairy farm 'De Brem Holsteins' in Velden has been offering the homemade products 'Zuivel van Nu', such as different flavors of yogurt, for a few weeks now. The dairy products can also be found in the vending machine of Dings Aardbeien in Belfeld and that of Hoeve Rosa in Sevenum. Fresh home delivery has also been a breeze for Zuivel van Nu for a few days now, thanks to the new refrigerated bus.

Hygiene

Frequently washing hands, ATMs and shopping carts being disinfected: the coronavirus also means something to our hygiene. In the previous article, we saw how, for example, beer brewer Hertog Jan is assisting in this area by producing hand gels with residual alcohol. This time we share the work of Blue Plasma from Venlo.

At Blue Plasma they normally work to ensure a sustainable and efficient clean and safe food supply. This means, for example, that they are working with the pig industry on a plasma application that helps to achieve a safe and pleasant living environment for farmers, pigs and local residents. They are also developing chemical-free methods for cleaning and disinfection for the food-processing industry and investigating possibilities for using plasma to remove medicines and drugs from wastewater flows.

As a result of the corona crisis, Blue Plasma is now making a sidestep into healthcare with its existing knowledge and applications, an area where the need for hygiene expertise is great. Cold atmospheric plasma can be used to sterilize devices, clothing and also mouthguards at room temperature. In a few minutes, viruses, bacteria and other pathogens are dealt with. Blue Plasma has an in-house sterilizer for this purpose that is currently being qualified for hospital and healthcare applications.

Collaboration

Finally, we look at some great examples of collaboration in corona time. In conversation with the Business Innovation Team Limburg, Ruud Zanders of Kipster explained how, by openly consulting with his clients, he arrived at great solutions for all involved. Two of his three Kipster houses produce eggs for supermarket chain Lidl. The eggs from the third house are for Victoria Trading, a company that buys for the Efteling amusement park, Delifrance, caterer HMS Host at Schiphol Airport and main customer Albron. However, the demand for eggs for this last group has come to a standstill due to the corona crisis. Zanders contacted Lidl and the supermarket was happy to accept the extra eggs, but in what packaging? There were plenty of Albron packs, but not extra Lidl packs. A good discussion followed with Lidl and Victoria Trading and now the surplus eggs are on the shelves of Lidl in an Albron pack. Zanders' message: wanting to help each other is essential.

Another special form of cooperation can be found at the Peters potato farm in Susteren. Owner Jolanda Peters could no longer sell her potatoes to Aviko and Farm Frites due to the corona crisis. She started a Facebook page at the end of March to bring the potatoes directly to the attention of the customer, which reached many people in record time. Due to the crowds, delivery was soon no longer an option, so the company asked if any people would like to serve as pickup locations. Now, a few months later, there are already ten of these spots from North to South Limburg, where individuals and colleague farmers open their doors to customers of the potato grower.

Do you know of any other Limburg agri-food initiatives in these times of corona crisis? Or maybe you are an entrepreneur yourself with an inspiring idea? We would love to hear from you!