Bioregional products: How to plan canteens for the future!

Bioregional products: How to plan canteens for the future!

A current study by the University of Hohenheim and Econsult shows the way to more bioregional products in community catering in Germany. The aim of research is to increase the proportion of these products in facilities such as canteens and canteen in Baden-Württemberg to 30-40 % by 2030. In Germany, around 15 to 18 million people perceive the offers in such facilities every day, which underlines the importance of a sustainable diet.

The study analyzed a total of 25 scientific articles and 17 project reports and carried out surveys with 15 experts in order to identify the success and inhibition factors for the use of bioregional products. The results result in ten concrete recommendations for action that can be implemented.

recommendations for practice

The most important recommendations for action is to create clear political targets that formulate and provide binding goals. This is particularly relevant for procurement procedures in which sustainability should already be firmly anchored. In addition, the study recommends promoting fresh kitchens and municipal own companies to facilitate sustainable menu planning.

Another aspect is the optimization of logistics and bundling structures that are crucial for the procurement of regional organic products. The development of digital tools is intended to better link supply and demand bioregional goods. The support of small and medium-sized companies (SME) in the preliminary processing is also a central point that contributes to increasing the organic share.

promote education and acceptance

advanced training and coaching on the subject of sustainable community catering should strengthen the skills of employees in kitchens. The attractiveness of the kitchen professions must also be increased by improving the training and working conditions in large kitchens. It is also recommended to actively shape and communicate the nutritional environments in order to promote the acceptance of the offers.

These recommendations fall into a larger context that more and more cities and federal states in Germany are exploring. Initiatives in cities such as Berlin, Hesse and Lower Saxony aim to increase the organic content in public kitchens. In daycare and schools in particular, considerable progress can be made through community decisions, with guidelines and seminars offer support in order to master the challenges in procurement. For example, kitchen teams are trained in Berlin by the “Kantin Zukunft” project in order to adapt to sustainably oriented menu, as can be read to bzfe.de

In community catering, the demand for organic products is unbroken. In 2018, over 11.8 billion meals were consumed out of the house in Germany, which generated sales of 80.6 billion euros. The growing demand for sustainability in meals can also be seen in the fact that in 2018 most German authorities offered around 58,000 meals every day. Despite these figures, the estimated organic component in the shared catering nationwide is only quantified at almost 1 %, as boelw.de

The challenge remains to make the switch to more organic products more logistical and systematic in order not only to promote the health of the population, but also to reduce the costs caused by nutritional diseases. The federal government is aiming to use 20 % of the agricultural area for ecological cultivation by 2030, and various cities already set ambitious goals to significantly increase the organic share of schools and in shared catering.