Question
Why is it so difficult for consumers to buy regional, organically produced food? What is the reason, what is the situation in Frankfurt am Main and how could this situation be improved? This is the topic of Marita Böhringer's master's thesis entitled:
Opportunities and challenges of regional food supply chains using the example of the city of Frankfurt am Main
Approach and methods
To analyse the situation in Frankfurt am Main, data was collected and geographically visualised to determine which farms exist within a radius of 100 km around Frankfurt am Main, which products are produced and which sales channels are used by these farms. In addition, interviews were conducted with experts on specific opportunities and challenges in the region.
Results
The data collection showed a situation with various strengths and weaknesses for Frankfurt am Main. A balanced variety of products could be found across the more than 600 identified farms. However, when focusing on small and organically certified farms, it turned out that only a very small proportion of the farms (<10%) had a sales channel to Frankfurt am Main. In the course of the expert interviews, the lack of transparency across the region in particular proved to be a challenge, as well as the various logistical challenges associated with small quantities to be transported. In order to address these challenges, the recommendation for action of the Master's thesis aimed at the establishment of a food hub as a bundling point for regional products as well as the establishment of a bundling platform for regional products.
Period
January 2020 to June 2020
Participants
Prepared by Marita Böhringer
Supervised by Prof. Dr. Schocke from the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and Dr. Anna-Mara Schön, the project manager of LogRegio.
The thesis was supported by BIONALES e.V. and Prof. Dr. Acksteiner, who provided the GeoLyx tool required for the visualisation.
