Limburg agri-food initiative in times of corona

World-wide initiatives are emerging to alleviate the misery caused by the coronavirus. Individuals and companies are inventing ways to support health care providers, to have fun during times of quarantine and to limit the economic damage. Even in the Limburg agri-food sector, entrepreneurs are resourceful in this time of crisis.

The coronavirus poses gigantic problems for the world. Staying healthy is of course the first concern, but also keeping your head above water as a company is in many cases not self-evident. Like everyone else, the agri-food sector faces many challenges, but at the same time there are opportunities to play an important role in easing the pain.

From producer directly to consumer

As a result of the closure of restaurants and caterers, many entrepreneurs in the Limburg agri-food sector are losing income. Although Limburg restaurants are rapidly developing alternatives to still sell their meals, producers are looking for other sales opportunities. Many places are looking at ways to bring their products directly to consumers. There is also a need for this, as shown, for example, by strawberry grower Dings from Belfeld, who has to refill his strawberry machine three times more often than before the corona crisis.

Support Your Locals

The Support Your Locals platform is calling on the whole of the Netherlands to embrace local producers and build short chains together. Many initiatives have emerged under the #supportyourlocalsNL banner in recent weeks and more are being added every day. On the website supportlocalsnederland.nl all initiatives are collected. The campaign is open for any regional food producer, initiative or stakeholder to join. To do so, one can sign up at https://supportlocalsnederland.nl/doe-mee/.

As part of Support Your Locals, the LLTB has presented online a list of farm stores or outlets in Limburg, where consumers can go for fresh farm products in the coming period.

Buy our harvest

There is also the action "Buy our harvest". Through the eponymous Facebook page LTO Noord, LLTB and ZLTO bring supply and demand together and promote local initiatives such as Support Your Locals, EtenOver, Boerschappen, De Streekboer, Rechtstreex and the Short Chain Coalition. Growers who could use some help in the search for new sales can report this via Facebook. Companies and consumers who would like to help these growers sell their fresh stock can also do so.

Beer package at Gulpener's online pub quiz

Another creative example of direct selling can be found at beer brewer Gulpener. They have started a online pub quiz to cushion some of the blow. With director Jan-Paul as quizmaster, people can not only quiz along, but also order a Gulpener beer package. In the regions of Gulpen-Wittem, Voerendaal, Simpelveld, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen, Maastricht and Vijlen, it is delivered by Gulpener itself, but people can also place an order elsewhere in the country.

Eat Fresh Box from Sous Chef

Sous Fresh also takes the direct route to the customer. Sous Fresh is a service partner and supplier to wholesale and food service companies in the field of fruit and vegetables. After stagnating part of their sales market, they developed the 'Eat Fresh Box', or 1.5 meters of fruit and vegetables for 15 euros. The message revolves around the value of fresh fruits and vegetables for a healthy body and strong immune system. The packages can be ordered weekly and picked up in Venlo.

Fruit and vegetable packs from 't Vitamientje

At 't Vitamientje in Gronsveld, fruit and vegetable packages will be delivered to customers' homes free of charge from March 25. The customer sends an email to 't Vitamientje and the next day, for € 20, they receive a box filled with vegetables and fruit at home. The initiative is so popular that they sometimes even have to sell 'no' products. Fortunately, there is still the possibility of going to 't Vitamientje yourself. Since mid-March the company has also been open to individuals.

Pop-up store of Geurtenenten Groenten en Fruit

Geurten Groenten & Fruit is actually a supplier of fresh potatoes, vegetables and fruit for the catering industry and institutions, but soon opened a pop-up store where individuals can buy their fresh products. They also collaborate with restaurants to offer special products. For example, asparagus quiches are sold, made by restaurant So Delicious in Maastricht. And restaurant Onglet in Maastricht makes asparagus soup that can be purchased in the pop-up store. Geurten's store is open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Herbs from Puur Aroma in meal box

Agricultural herb grower Puur Aroma from Margraten normally supplies a large proportion of its herbs to the hotel and catering industry. The company has found an alternative in a partnership with a supplier of meal boxes. They are working hard to deliver herbs in this way to further expand.

Helping hand

Initiatives to offer a helping hand to those who need it so badly in this crisis are also present. Various entrepreneurs and organizations are doing their bit. Several Limburg caterers have set up actions to deliver meals and food to people who cannot provide for themselves. For the producers of Limburg nice actions to join, where possible.

Vitamin C action

The Limburg food banks were swamped soon after the lockdown with special and luxurious products that closed catering companies donated to them. Thus, fresh ginger root, sliced ham and even the famous Limburg stink cheese rommedoe could suddenly be handed out. Yet the situation quickly changed due to people's hoarding behavior. Food banks now fear a major shortage of food for their packages.

Limburg caterer Ki van de Ven is coming to their aid with his 'Vitamin C Action'. He collects donations through crowdfunding, with which he buys vegetables and fruit to give away. Besides Voedselbank Limburg, this also supports 16 care institutions, residents and employees. Over 1700 people receive 2 pieces of fruit per person per week. The same goes for 100 employees of the emergency room of the UMC+ hospital in Maastricht. And fruit and vegetables go to John Gilissen, a Maastricht resident who cooks free meals for fellow townspeople every week.

Difficult times call for inventive solutions

Ria Joosten runs four restaurants, operates two luxury group accommodations, provides party catering and events for individuals and companies in the south of the Netherlands and has 160 employees under contract. From the first week in March, the company was hit by the crisis. She did not want to stay home powerless and decided to help patients and staff of a hospice in Central Limburg. She cooks for the whole team and puts the prepared meals outside. In addition, a number of staff members temporarily support the care. "Difficult times call for inventive solutions. Being creative, rearranging your work and optimizing that."

NoodFood

Bram Drost of Crewfood and Danny Keppels of EMG started NoodFood. Emergency Food consists of a donation campaign, where meals are provided to fellow human beings who are unable to provide fresh meals themselves. They are fresh ready meals for caregivers, social workers and the elderly. In addition, there is Emergency Food that can be used to support in-house catering at care institutions. Meals cost €7.50. The meals are prepared and packed daily at one of the Noodfood locations, ready to be warmed up.

Apple action for the food bank

The Limburg Land and Horticulture Association (LLTB) and Hermans Groenten en Fruit are donating 300 kilos of apples and pears to the food bank in Roermond. The LLTB will donate all the fruit that is normally consumed at the Entrepreneurs' Square in Roermond and fruit growers Jos and son Roy Hermans from Herten will add another 100 kilos.

The food bank will be able to buy the fruit and pears at the Food Bank in Roermond.

"Healthy food is more important now than ever," says Hermans. "And this is a time, after all, when we have to help each other out a little." The staff of the Roermond food bank will ensure a fair distribution. "With this donation we can provide 250 families with a healthy piece of fruit," the food bank announces.

Hand gel from Hertog Jan

Beer brewery Hertog Jan is taking action in a very different way during the corona crisis. The brewery in Arcen keeps alcohol after the production of Hertog Jan 0.0 percent each time. That is now used for the production of disinfectants such as hand gels. Parent company AB InBev donated the first batch of 5000 hand gels, made from alcohol-free beer, to hospitals and healthcare institutions in the Netherlands on Wednesday.

The time for innovation

Themes such as innovation and cooperation are already being tackled in abundance in the Limburg agri-food sector, but it seems as if the current crisis is fueling the need even more. Working together in short chains can help entrepreneurs keep their heads above water in these times. New products, services and sales markets are emerging at a rapid pace. Although everything seems to have come to a standstill, the need for action is perhaps greater than ever.

One of the participants in the advisory project LimburgAgrofood (LIOF) is Hermans Fruit from Herten. Within this program the fruit grower works on the development of the industry in which he delivers his fruit directly to companies. However, the current corona crisis means that companies are closed and therefore do not order fruit. Hermans is therefore not putting a stop to the plans he has with this business unit, but rather wants to use the time to speed up the development in this area. He continues to focus on intensifying direct sales and so he is working through LimburgAgrofood with the necessary expertise to determine a comprehensive short chain strategy for the future.

Healthy personnel

The food chain has been designated as a vital process by the Dutch government and the professions of employees working in the sector are considered crucial. What measures do you take as an employer? In the agrofood sector, working from home is usually not an option. How can you still let your employees do their work responsibly?

Elle Snijders of asparagus farm Oppe Haes in Roggel can fortunately still count on her staff: "As an employer I feel responsible and I want our employees to do well. All our employees have therefore been made aware of the guidelines and are well aware of what the consequences of the coronavirus can be. Let's respect each other and together ensure that we stay healthy."

Rik Kursten of Teboza in Helden also pays a lot of attention to the safety of his employees. "When performing our work, we naturally make every effort to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. We regard the requirements of the RIVM, the GGD and the government as minimum requirements. In addition to various physical adjustments and the use of personal protective equipment, everyone receives extra hygiene training and compliance is actively monitored. Furthermore, we have taken additional cleaning measures to reduce the risk of contamination as much as possible."

Lack of staff

For other growers, the problem is precisely the lack of employees. Migrant workers cannot travel to the Netherlands and so several companies are short of hands. There are several initiatives that try to fill the gaps at these companies with people who have no work in these times. Examples are 'Help Us Harvest' and the 'Platform Personnel Coronacrisis'.

At blueberry grower Handy Healthy in America, the solution to the staffing shortage is being sought in technology. By using the Fine Field harvesting machine this summer, they are saving forty, mostly foreign, workers. That's two-thirds of the workforce in this peak season.

Support

Have you as an entrepreneur questions about this time of corona? Possibly MKB-Limburg can help. There is a webinar given that you can listen back through the website. Here you can also sign up for the 'MKB Limburg Entrepreneurs Platform for information, advice and training on the Corona measures' or do a Corona impact scan. This scan was developed by MKB-Limburg, LWV and LLTB with Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. The MKB-Limburg programme offers practical information and help on support measures, online training for entrepreneurs, a forum for exchanging information, online live sessions with experts and personal feedback from business coaches.

In addition, a great deal of Corona information can be read on the website of the LLTB.

Have you set up an initiative yourself that you would like to share? We would love to hear from you!