Accept local cookies 16-10-2020 An interdisciplinary study on consumer wishes regarding the involvement with local and sustainable food in Wageningen, Renkum and Ede Written by: Anouk Hagens, Charlotte Stam, Gelieke Steeghs, Guusje van Tienhoven, Jose Noë, Martine Wijnstra COMMISSIONER: PAULINE MARTEL PROJECT: GOED PUNT! BRINGING CITIZENS AND FARMERS TOGETHER BY MEANS OF NEW OUTLETS FOR SUSTAINABLE AND LOCAL FOOD IN WAGENINGEN, RENKUM AND EDE Colophon This report was commissioned by the ‘Goed Punt!’-project. More information on this project can be found on: https://www.voedselanders.nl/goed-punt/ © 2020 – Anouk Hagens, Josje Noë, Charlotte Stam, Gelieke Steeghs, Guusje van Tienhoven, Martine Wijnstra All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed, in any form or by any means, without the prior consent of the authors. This report is produced by students of Wageningen University as part of their MSc-programme. It is not an official publication of Wageningen University or Wageningen UR and the content herein does not represent any formal position or representation by Wageningen University i Final report ACT Team 2550 Accept local cookies An interdisciplinary study on consumer wishes regarding the involvement with local and sustainable food in Wageningen, Renkum and Ede. Authors: Anouk Hagens, Charlotte Stam, Gelieke Steeghs, Guusje Tienhoven, Josje Noë, and Martine Wijnstra Contact information team: [email protected] Commissioner: Pauline Martel, [email protected] Organisation: ‘Goed Punt!’-Project Coach: Huub Oude Vrielink Academic advisor: Caro-Lynn Verbaan Date: 16 October 2020 ii Final report ACT Team 2550 Abstract In this report, the topic of consumer involvement in outlets for local and sustainable food were researched. Inhabitants of the municipalities Ede, Wageningen and Renkum were asked to participate in the research in order to create a concrete advise for the ‘Goed Punt!’-project. It was unknown which types of outlets for local and sustainable food (products) optimally fit the wishes and needs of consumers and how consumers could be involved. A scoping literature review, a questionnaire, interviews and focus groups were used as research methods. It was found that participants viewed ‘local’ as ranging between 30-50 km radius but visiting multiple locations to pick-up food was seen as a constraint. This resulted in the general advice to create an online platform for the three municipalities combined, and physical locations per municipality. The platform should serve as an online store for local products, a database where consumers can find more information about the producers and where activities can be promoted and direct contact between consumers and producers can be fostered. Next to this, additional physical (pick-up) locations need to be considered, depending on the wishes per municipality. A few differences per municipality need to be kept in mind: In Renkum the focus should be on a physical location for the community, while in Ede the size of the municipality requires different pickup points. In Wageningen, the outlet should not be a competitor of the already existing initiatives. Therefore, collaboration is recommended. The connection between an online environment, and physical locations is important for all three municipalities. Consumer involvement needs to be non-committal and transparency about the product’s origin is key. The number of participants in this research is limited, therefore differences per municipality require further research. iii Final report ACT Team 2550 Recommendations In this section, the recommendations will be presented based on the conducted research. The recommendations will give an overview of the most relevant findings and how these can be used to create an outlet for local and sustainable food. More detailed information is to be found in the report. General recommendations At the start of this project, it was unknown which types of outlet for local and sustainable food optimally fit the wishes and needs of consumers in the municipalities Wageningen, Renkum, and Ede, and how to involve consumers with the outlet. There are initiatives in each municipality that sell either local or sustainable food, however, consumers feel that an outlet with an almost all-encompassing product range is absent. According to the ‘Goed Punt!’-project, there is a wish from both consumers and producers to set up such an outlet which also fosters community involvement. By means of a consumer study, the aim was to learn what type of outlets for local and sustainable food, which foster consumer involvement, optimally fit the wishes and needs of the consumers in Wageningen, Renkum and Ede. The advice consists of two separate parts: an online platform for all three municipalities, and recommendations per municipality regarding a physical outlet. First, the recommendation of the online platform will be explained. Second, recommendations per municipality will be made. The resulting advice is summarised below and available in graphic form on a flyer (one per municipality). Next to this, an Excel document will be provided which contains detailed information of the online platform which could be shared with a web-developer for implementation. The general recommendation regarding the creation of an online platform should be prioritized. This forms the first step in creating an alternative food system in the three municipalities. Based on the literature study in which different types of consumer involvement are described, it became clear that there is a need for consumer-based initiatives in the three municipalities. In Wageningen, this initiative should be loosely organized, while in Renkum and Ede it should be community focused. These types of involvement fit the local situation best, as the participants from Wageningen expressed that there is no need for a completely new physical outlet since there are numerous existing initiatives around local and sustainable food. In Renkum and Ede there is a wish for a new physical outlet, as the participants expressed that there are fewer initiatives. In all municipalities, collaboration with existing initiatives is highly recommended. It is recommended to create an online platform which offers local and sustainable products in a web shop. Through the web shop the products can be ordered and delivered at home or picked up at a pick- up point. The participants expressed the preference for multiple pick-up points, to make local and sustainable food more accessible for a larger group of consumers. The pick-up points can be located for instance at existing shops, at a farm, at a weekly market, a community centre or at a new physical location. The pick-up point at a local market is a low risk investment and can be a great starting point, as it allows a wide range of inhabitants to get used to a new selling point. The participants expressed the need for the project to consider which outlets are already present and to collaborate with existing initiatives instead of being a competitor. It is yet unknown whether local initiatives are open to this, but it is deemed necessary to increase sales from SFSCs (Short Food Supply Chains). A large constraint for consumers to buy local and sustainable food is the lack of information about where to buy it, as well as the unclarity around the concepts of ‘local’ and ‘sustainable’. Therefore, it is recommended to create a map in the online outlet, where all the producers can be found. In order to provide more clarity about what products are ‘local’ and ‘sustainable’, the online platform is iv Final report ACT Team 2550 recommended to provide transparent information on product choice, production process, and the origins of the product. Open and honest communication towards consumers about product choices is essential to bind consumers to the outlet, as the participants argued that this will create trust. The participants expressed the wish to be more directly in contact with the farmer, as many are curious about what happens at the farm. The online outlet can provide for this, by creating newsletters and blog posts available in which producers share their passion with consumers, such that the buyer exactly knows who produced their products and under which circumstances. Additionally, it is recommended for the platform to cater for active forms of involvement. There should be options to volunteer or engage in activities, such as excursions and workshops. Voluntary consumer participation should both be occasional and regular in order to involve different types of consumers. In order to facilitate the demographic diversity of the municipalities, the platform consists of both a website and a mobile application, in Dutch and in English. Push notifications are recommended to actively remind customers to buy products and to read new posts. Based on the analysis of the questionnaire, the definition for consumers of local products entails products from within a 30 to 50 km range. The amount of (plastic) packaging should be kept to a minimum, as several participants indicated this as an important aspect of sustainability. An alternative could be the use of reusable packaging. Recommendations per municipality Multiple participants argued that online platforms should function to enhance what is available offline. As the wishes regarding this did differ substantially per municipality, the advice regarding possible physical outlets will be given separately for all three municipalities. Municipality of Wageningen One of the key findings in the municipality of Wageningen was that there is no need or wish for a new outlet in any kind of physical location. The inhabitants pointed out that they already cannot grasp all the initiatives that are available because of a lack of information. Next to this, they would like to see more collaboration between the existing initiatives. It is therefore recommended to not create a new outlet in the municipality of Wageningen but to link pick-up points to already existing initiatives. However, this is based on the consumers wishes and is not discussed yet with producers and existing initiatives.