Objectives
Project goal is to improve the resilience and sustainable growth of local food producers in rural areas through diversification of their business activities in the field of culinary tourism. It enables them to:
1) become more independent from longer and today more fragile value chains;
2) improve the economic performance as shortened value chains have a positive effect on the profitability;
3) build a local food ecosystem in cooperation with other rural SMEs, networks and stakeholders offering more value for endcustomers.
Realisation of goals
Shared transnational knowledge and jointly implemented innovation process will produce a sustainable and transferable model as a comprehensive solution to tackle different risks for local food producers and networks in the whole Baltic Sea Region (BSR) area. Through addressing similar problems and analysing jointly the different opportunities, strengths and shortcomings, a synergy is created that allows to compose a joint (but flexible) solution for target groups, which can be transferred in different rural regions in the BSR area.
Outcomes
Project outputs have transnational relevance, as they are freely accessible and applicable to a wider group of small food producers interested in diversification, which strengthens their resilience. Across Europe the rural areas in BSR region are currently not very well known as a culinary tourism destination. Active involvement of food producers in culinary tourism is an excellent opportunity for making the region more visible and attractive for visitors.
Project partners and associated organizations will jointly design and pilot an innovative practical solution for integrating traditional food production and culinary tourism, which includes two main elements:
1) Practical methods and tools for culinary tourism service design targeted to local food producers for innovation at the company level.
2) Practical methods and tools for efficient marketing of joint tourism products in the format of local/regional/thematic gastro tours, culinary routes, itineraries, regional food packages stimulating cross-selling etc. The focus is on innovative approaches to reach the potential visitors and on using both the traditional and digital formats (culinary events/shows, virtual tours/maps, social media campaigns, competitions/awards, regional “signature” products, “food ambassadors”, etc).
