Limburg farmers pitch products during Healthy Short Chains meeting

Fifteen brave participants in the Healthy Short Chains Limburg program - part of the LOF program - had the courage to pitch their healthy regional products to an eight-member panel on Wednesday, October 14. The panel consisted of representatives of Limburg healthcare institutions, caterers and food suppliers. It was a more than inspiring meeting in Venlo, where the agri-food entrepreneurs showed their best side. It led to successful matches between producers and the healthcare and food sectors.

LOF program

In the care sector there is a great need for healthy and safe food. For farmers and growers short chains and direct sales lines are very interesting. The innovative LOF program brings these needs together by helping farmers to enter the market and healthcare institutions to find the right producers. Part of the LOF program, which started almost a year ago, is the practical program Healthy Short Chains. Entrepreneurs learn how to profitably create local or regional sales.

Pitch & Match

Pork, eggs, dairy, turkey, asparagus, a variety of vegetables and beef: it was all passed during the pitches of the Limburg growers, breeders and breeders on October 14. At Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo, each participant had three minutes to win over the panel. In that panel four Limburg care organizations were present (GGZ Vincent van Gogh, Cicero, Mondriaan and the MUMC), as well as two caterers (Vermaat and Cabooter) and two food suppliers (Daily Fresh Food and Holland Food Service). By raising a cooking spatula, the panelists indicated when they were interested in a product they had just pitched. Unfortunately, this did not happen with all participants, but it did happen with the vast majority. This showed also in 2020 that the need for tasty, fresh and healthy regional products in healthcare and company restaurants is high.

Enthusiasm palpable

The pitch & match meeting was originally scheduled in May, but could not take place then due to corona measures. This time around, after an online pitch training with a number of participants, the decision was made to go ahead with it even during this time. Otherwise, there would have been a risk of delay and there was now plenty of enthusiasm. Ron van Lier, Director of Food & Agri at Rabobank Limburg, who spoke to the group beforehand via a Teams connection, also sensed this. Two of the participants had also chosen to make their pitches via Teams and were therefore not physically present on the spot. One participant even showed a tightly edited video, in which he gave a look at his own (poultry) farm.

Aftermovie

Loose ends

The matches that were made will be discussed further in the coming period to see how the interest can be concretely translated into a collaboration. It turned out that there were still a number of loose ends to be tied up, from portioning, THT dates and type of packaging to bundling products in packages, so that not every supplier needs to arrive at the customer's premises independently. The enormous flexibility and customer orientation of the agricultural entrepreneurs, coupled with dormant initiatives for cooperation, suggest that this is bound to work out well. Pilots are in the offing in various places in the province. In any case, there is mutual enthusiasm.

Read more

On the website Gezonde Korte Keten you can read all about this practical program that is implemented by Diverzio, in collaboration with Rabobank, Limburg Province, F-Fort and NEVI.

Read more about the LOF program? Click here for a interview with LLTB chairman Thijs Rompelberg. There is also a Kiempunt LOF group that you can join. Make contact with other members and get access to interesting documents. You can sign up here.

For those who want to stay involved with Short Chain initiatives in Limburg there is the Kiempunt Short Chains community. Sign up directly via this page!