CONCLUDING REMARKS
All of the carried-out studies and identified good practices described in this Handbook have guided the FRIDGE project partners in their regions towards improved regional policies supporting competitiveness of Food industry SMEs. The key steps towards improved policies are the regional action plans, developed by each partner region. In this last chapter we want to share short descriptions of each partners’ action plan.
Tolna County, Hungary
In our region, shortage of labour and lacking management skills are important issues according to our SME survey. The Food Pilot GP inspired us to consult with our Managing Authority and suggest including advisory and training services in a call supporting food SMEs that might help fill the gap.
Harghita County, Romania
Taking into account the local needs and the discussions held with our stakeholders our action plan focuses on two main activities: 1. establishment of a product brand system quality assurance system, 2. preparation of the milk production chain cooperation with the involvement of product chain actors. Both activities are inspired by the Good Practices identified in the project.
Upper Franconia, Germany
Through the many discussions and Good Practices, we learned the importance of different approaches to accessing and using existing resources. We further develop Premium Products and foster the Project Genuss Schätze Bayern, our Policy Instrument. The various approaches from the FRIDGE partners to promote regional products were inspiring for an improvement of our marketing measures through direct dialogue with consumers and other stakeholders. Public events and training courses, participation in markets and trade fairs will be part of the marketing strategy in the future.
South Ostrobothnia, Finland
During the project we have identified certain territorial needs in our region, that should be answered in order to improve the competitiveness of our local Food SMEs. Our action plan focuses on two development themes. First, supporting the development of the regional Food Innovation Ecosystem and second, the development of the regional food business environment. Under these two themes, we are initiating five concrete actions that support the competitiveness of our Food SMEs and that are all based on the lessons learned and especially the Good Practices identified in the project.
Western Macedonia, Greece
In Western Macedonia Region, a lack of specific actions to promote the agricultural SMEs is recorded. Based on lessons learned from the project including many useful Good Practices the FRIDGE Action Plan will be a tool for us to boost extraversion, supporting the Agrifood Partnership of Western Macedonia, the Regional Food Cluster.
East-Flanders, Belgium
Our Action Plan is based on two main actions. First, creating a mentoring network for consumers: inspired by the Szekler Product Trademark, the Food Province Label and the Völgység Kincse Social Cooperative, we want to set up a communication campaign to further develop and strengthen our pride towards and knowledge about East Flanders and East Flemish gastronomic specialities. Second, we aim at creating a mentoring network for producers: there is little collaboration between food SMEs in our region. A lot of good practices prove that for small SMEs, this could be the key to strengthening export, promotion, sales and distribution. To build on this, we want to build a network between SMEs in the food industry and knowledge centres.
