Food and non-food private sector engagement in the City Region Food System Rotterdam with a focus on the supportive role of social housing corporations Dr. Jan Willem van der Schans, Paul de Graaf LEI-Wageningen University & Research Centre, Paul de Graaf Ontwerp & Onderzoek, RUAF Foundation August 2016 1 Imprint Published by: LEI-Wageningen University & Research Centre Paul de Graaf Ontwerp & Onderzoek RUAF Foundation – Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems On behalf of the Food & Business Knowledge Platform (F&BKP), initiated by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs With support from the CGIAR Water, Land and Ecosystems Research Program (WLE / IWMI) LEI-Wageningen University & Research Centre The Netherlands I www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/lei.htm Paul de Graaf Ontwerp & Onderzoek Rotterdam, The Netherlands I www.pauldegraaf.eu RUAF Foundation PO Box 357, 3830 AK, Leusden, The Netherlands T +31334343003 E [email protected] I www.ruaf.org Authors: Dr. Jan Willem van der Schans (Wageningen University & Research Centre) E [email protected] Paul de Graaf (Paul de Graaf Ontwerp & Onderzoek) E [email protected] Design and layout: Desiree Dirkzwager Language editing: Katrin Hochberg City Region Food System Rotterdam and the role of private real estate in its development Content Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 5 1. Background and current context ................................................................................ 9 1.1 General introduction -Dutch context for private sector participation ....................... 9 1.2 Introduction to Rotterdam City Region ................................................................. 10 1.3 Characterisation of the City Region Food System of Rotterdam .......................... 12 2. Current state – General overview of private sector types and players that are currently engaged in the Rotterdam CRFS .............................................................. 14 2.1 General overview of types and players: food and non-food sector engagement in CRFS .......................................................................................... 14 2.2 Overview of food sector private parties: short supply chain initiatives .................. 15 2.2.1 Direct sales in farm shops ....................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Direct supply by urban producers............................................................ 16 2.2.3 Online shops and box schemes .............................................................. 17 2.2.4 Farmers markets ..................................................................................... 17 2.2.5 Retail ...................................................................................................... 18 2.2.6 Catering .................................................................................................. 19 2.2.7 Preliminary conclusions .......................................................................... 20 2.3 Overview of indirectly related private sector food players .................................... 21 2.3.1 Private funds ........................................................................................... 22 2.3.2 Social housing corporations .................................................................... 23 2.3.3 Real estate developers ........................................................................... 23 2.3.4 Private/collective land owners ................................................................. 24 2.3.5 Providers and processors of essential inputs .......................................... 24 2.3.6 Engineers, consultants, architects and planners ..................................... 26 2.3.7 Care and reintegration organisations ...................................................... 27 2.3.8 NGOs ..................................................................................................... 27 2.3.9 Social entrepreneurs ............................................................................... 28 2.3.10 Preliminary conclusions ......................................................................... 29 3. Focus on social housing corporations .................................................................... 30 3.1 Current roles and functions of Social Housing Corporations ................................ 36 3.2 Current reasons, drivers and motivates for SHC engagement in city region food systems ....................................................................................................... 37 3.3 Impacts of current intervention ............................................................................ 38 3.4 Risks incurred from current engagement ............................................................. 39 3.5 Current policy environment, support measures and their influence ..................... 41 3 City Region Food System Rotterdam and the role of private real estate in its development 3.6 Private sector support needs for engagement ..................................................... 41 4. Future possibilities. Analysis and conclusions ....................................................... 43 4.1 Promising types of private sector engagement and private sector players .......... 43 4.2 Future roles for the private sector ........................................................................ 47 4.3 New/additional reasons for private sector engagement ....................................... 47 4.4 Support needs for new private sector engagement ............................................. 48 4.5 The different ways private sector engages and possible synergies ..................... 50 4.6 A supportive policy environment .......................................................................... 51 5. References ................................................................................................................. 52 4 City Region Food System Rotterdam and the role of private real estate in its development Abstract The City Region Food System of Rotterdam is characterised by the paradox of being an international port – a gateway to Europe, particularly for fruit and feed – while at the same time having a small but prolific local food movement that consists of citizens and entrepreneurs who are motivated by environmental and social aims with strong local connections. Rotterdam is still largely supplied by supermarkets and conventional just-in- time distribution, a classical example of food system 2.01 and it is hard to see how this could change in the short term. Nonetheless, the more sectoral approach to food (production, processing, transport and retail) is making way for a more integrated approach to food (i.e. also considering environmental, public health, social justice, education, employment concerns as is characteristic of a more regionally embedded food system 3.0). This is reflected in the increasing participation of players that are traditionally not considered part of the food sector such as health organisations, schools, social housing companies, commercial real estate, innovative start-ups, proactive NGOs and social entrepreneurs. Short supply chain initiatives Rotterdam has seen an increasing number of short supply chain initiatives over recent years. Although these may have social and environmental motives their main driver is commercial viability and they aim to serve a growing niche market. Short food supply chains may involve direct sales on farm, online sales and box schemes, farmers markets, retail and catering (hotels, restaurants, public institutions and private companies). There are several websites that show where to buy your food directly from farmers or growers in the Rotterdam city region. Farmers work on their own or as a cooperative. Relatively new categories of direct supply are urban farms or urban production sites inside the city. Initiatives range from urban to peri-urban and from self-organised citizen initiatives to professional farmers. The number of online shops and box schemes is rapidly increasing in the Netherlands and the Rotterdam city region, with new initiatives starting up, but also closing down, regularly. An increasing number of farmer and festival markets offer opportunities for organic local (and national) producers and traders. In retail and catering, a current trend is the differentiation on the basis of provenance claims. This is expressed both in new catering concepts (e.g. a restaurant using produce from the region) and new product concepts (e.g. local product varieties or recipes). There are restaurants that have on-site production facilities to complement the products that they source locally. There are also urban farms that run a restaurant to market their products. There is a fast food (snack bar) chain that is trying to source potatoes for its world famous Flemish chips from the region. They recently introduced a new food concept where they cut potatoes without peeling them and serve the chips with home-made ragouts and sauces. Another project re-introduced a traditional dairy breed for meadows on peat soil in the Rotterdam city region. The meat is used in hamburgers served at snack bars in the region. The high number of new initiatives seems to indicate, on the one hand, the opportunities that are provided by CRFS, and on the other, that start-ups in the food sector require founders