With LogRegio - rWSK neu denken, we want to expand our focus from Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region to the whole of Hesse in order to bring more regional products to different Hessian cities, i.e. to strengthen rWSK. RWSKs comprise the entire process from agricultural production and processing to the final distribution of food. We are focussing on farms (bLB; in contrast to industrial agriculture) and the piloting of various regions (Frankfurt, Fulda, Marburg, Wiesbaden and the southern Hesse region) with different structures on the customer side, in particular the AHV and so-called bundlers (logistics service providers, but also FoodCoops). We pursue both an academic and an operational approach.

The academic approach focuses on monitoring the pilot regions and, above all, comparing them with each other. Preliminary work on the LogRegio GruFo project, which has been funded by the state of Hesse since November 2021, together with BIONALES e.V. , is primarily focussing on the delivery of (organic) regional food to the AHV in Frankfurt/Main. The project is investigating what rWSK must look like in order to be both ecologically sensible and economically competitive with conventional competitors (especially wholesalers).

In the LogRegio - rWSK neu denken project, we want to analyse the differences between rWSK in various pilot regions as part of a requirements analysis. We suspect that a one-size-fits-all solution is unrealistic. Rather, there are probably important variables that need to be taken into account. These include:

• Size of the city, its population and its financial strength,
• number of producers around the city, what and how much they grow
• Differences between rural and urban regions.

The participants in the rWSK also make a significant difference. Catering, company canteens and urban canteens as well as bundlers have different requirements and specifications for their processes and logistical functions and how they are mapped in a digital application. These are worked out on the basis of interviews, among other things.

The results of the requirements analysis for the various pilot regions are then used for the operational part, which aims to develop and provide a digital logistics application that corresponds to the rWSK and ensures its operability. The special features of the different regions and the results of the requirements analysis will be taken into account.

Objectives

1. Connection or integration of this digital logistics application to a pass platform for regional food WSKs
2. Creating the possibility for AHV, in particular company and municipal canteens as well as catering, but also bundlers for end customers (in particular FoodCoops) to be supplied with regional food in a simple and logistically efficient bundled manner

Specific areas of application include

• Collective orders of goods and their processing (particularly relevant for coordinators and larger facilities with limited staff)
• Offering and utilising pass free delivery capacities
• Visualisation of the need for logistics (especially for bLB, when the demand for regional food increases)
• Transport and route optimisation
• Container management (return in reusable systems)

A service provider to be commissioned as part of the project will be responsible for the operational part. The HFD team will support this by developing the logistical calculations and scenarios.

The knowledge acquired at the end of the project will also be incorporated into a knowledge platform on the topic of regional (organic) food. This kind of digital encyclopaedia is intended to provide information about rWSK and thus create awareness of the challenges that rWSK participants (farmers, logistics service providers, canteens, restaurants, retailers, FoodCoops, etc.) have to overcome. The knowledge platform is aimed at both rWSK participants and end consumers. The most interesting content will be disseminated via the social media channels already in use.