Development of new food and non-food products to boost local value chains

Within the subproject CROPDIVA-WP5 of the EU-funded project CROPDIVA (Project ID 14287) contributions to work package 5 (Task 5.1 and 5.3) will be elaborated. Task 5.1 Exploration of the value chains This task will analyze existing value chains of niche food and feed products that can serve as examples or could potentially be used for implementation of new food products from underutilized crops. For this purpose, a comprehensive market analysis will be carried out to provide a holistic and context-sensitive picture of 3-5 Austrian case studies of relevant regional supply chains that include intermediate inputs, agricultural production and processing as well as logistical issues of underutilized crops. Both, upstream (e.g. breeding/seeds, plant protection methods, machinery) and downstream aspects (logistics of harvested products, storage and processing) from value chains will be taken into account. Task 5.3 Development of marketing models This task will be carried out with the use of the participatory research-methods techniques. Facilitated group discussions (i.e. focus groups) with relevant groups of stakeholders (breeders, farmers, advisors, processors, retailors, policy makers, consumers) will be organized to understand the main potentials as well as the limiting factors on the supply side for developing and successfully launching new food products. 4 group discussions will be organized to gain detailed insight into practices of the stakeholders and their approaches to the underutilized crops in different contexts. The focus groups will be held according to a standard guideline that will adjusted to Austrian specifics. Data from the focus groups will be transcribed and analyzed with the use of the strategies for the qualitative research.