Consumers want to eat more local and healthy food, but they lack the time to make their groceries in the local shops. What if there was a virtual platform connecting consumers with local farmers and food artisans? Good news: it already exists… in Poland! Founded in 2013, Lokalny Rolnick has a network of farmers, and it serves 120000 customers with fresh, organic and local food. Customers self-organize local action groups and pick the goods in several selling points across the main Polish cities.
Main results / outcomes
Wondering about the positive outcomes? Farmers and consumers are more closely connected. They share the same vision of providing and accessing local, quality and organic food production at affordable prices. It is up to the farmer to set the price on which the products are sold through the platform. The platform charges exclusively for marketing and logistical fees. Farmers receive up to 80% of the selling price and they share the risks with the platform owners in case of failures. As a result, the position of the farmer in the food chain is strengthened.
Practical recommendations
Roklany Rolky has a strong potential of replicability and scaling up as long as there is demand from consumers and the availability of a network of farmers to meet it. This project is innovative in the sense that it uses technology to bring like-minded people together. It boosts food literacy of consumers on the origin of food, empowering local communities and creating social dynamism.
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