When we buy food in the supermarket, it has often travelled halfway around the world. On the one hand, fruit and vegetables that actually grow in this country are imported from abroad for cost reasons. On the other hand, local businesses send their food over hundreds of kilometres to be washed and cut, as labour is cheaper abroad. The problem: such long supply chains lead to severe environmental pollution.
A study by the University of Sydney estimates that the CO2 emissions caused by transporting fruit and vegetables are 36 percent of food-miles emissions, which is almost twice the amount of greenhouse gases released during their production. At the same time, it is precisely the richest countries whose food travels too long distances. While they make up around 12 percent of the world’s population, they are responsible for 46 percent of the food kilometres travelled. Many experts are therefore calling for shorter food supply chains in order to reduce the environmental impact of the food sector.
Fruit, vegetables and animal products from local farms are even fresher as they do not have to travel such long distances. This means that the time between farm and plate is shorter and farms do not have to preserve the food through extensive refrigeration or chemical treatments before dispatch.
In our dossier on a successful sustainable agricultural transition, we present many solutions that offer a glimpse into the future of agriculture. Below, we present specific solutions that consumers can use to shorten supply chains now.
1. Marktschwärmer brings regional food to the city centre
Marktschwärmer’s platform has been bringing consumers and producers in Germany closer together since 2014. According to the company, 200,000 members, over 3,000 regional producers and more than 130 hosts have come together in around 10 years.
Consumers can search for offers in their immediate vicinity using a web browser or apps for Android and iOS (in German stores). The special thing about Marktschwärmer is that there are not only businesses but also “Schwärmereien”. These act as pick-up stations and have the advantage that users in cities do not have to travel to the countryside to buy regional products.
You can shop at Marktschwärmer directly online on your smartphone or laptop. Depending on the Schwärmerei, there are regional fruit varieties, seasonal vegetables and animal products; in exceptional cases, imported products from partner farms abroad can also be found here. Regardless of where the goods come from, customers can buy them digitally and pick them up at the communicated times.
According to Marktschwärmer, the products on offer only travel an average of 40 kilometres. At the same time, around 82 per cent of the money spent on purchased food goes to the businesses. Using Marktschwärmer therefore also brings benefits for the sellers.
2. Regional fish and seafood at “Frisch Gefischt”
The Hamburg-based start-up “Frisch Gefischt“, which we reported on in autumn 2023, is pursuing a similar idea. In Germany, fishing in particular is associated with long supply chains. This is because there have been no fish auctions in Germany since the 1980s. Regionally caught products therefore have to be taken abroad to be auctioned off and brought back again.
“Frisch Gefischt” uses its own online platform to offer seafood directly after it has been caught. End customers can order the desired goods there and receive them a few days after processing in the harbour.
In an interview, Frisch Gefischt told us how this form of direct marketing ensures fresher and more sustainable fishing. The company launched an online shop for private customers at the beginning of 2024. This allows customers to order regionally caught fish and seafood and collect it from the Hamburg site. Germany-wide delivery is planned for the future, and international options could soon become a possibility.
Organic crates such as 3. Etepetete or 4. Querfeld
Subscriptions for organic boxes are another way to buy regional products without much effort. There are offers that deliver organic products from the region depending on seasonal availability. Concepts such as Etepetete or Querfeld specialise in goods not sold in conventional stores due to blemishes.
To find an organic box near you, there is a directory in which most organic box delivery services can be found. As such services are very popular, there are now also additional products such as organic box cookery books, which contain a number of recipes for seasonal fruit and vegetables. This means that organic boxes also provide more variety in the diet.
5. “RegioApp”
The “RegioApp” is an online service that has slowly been expanded to a national level following its launch in Franconia. The idea is to summarise regional offers for shorter supply chains in a clearly structured app.
Customers can use the “RegioApp” to search for regional products and farms with direct marketing throughout Germany. The application is roughly divided into “Shop regionally” and “Eat regionally”. Anyone searching for shopping options in the “RegioApp” can also filter by other categories such as “Organic”, “Village shops”, “Weekly and farmers’ markets”, “Small businesses” or by food category.
While the platform is intuitive and clearly organised, we were not (yet) able to find too many offers when we tried it out at the RESET location in Berlin. It is therefore advisable to use the offers of the individual federal states in addition to the “RegioApp”.
6. Info pages of German federal states
The various federal states have their own online lists of farms that market their products directly. In addition to solutions such as Marktschwärmer and the RegioApp, interested parties can contact local farm shops here. In the following list, we have compiled offers from the individual federal states:
- Baden-Württemberg
- Bayern
- Berlin / Brandenburg
- Bremen
- Hessen
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Niedersachsen
- Nordrhein-Westfalen
- Rheinland-Pfalz
- Saarland
- Sachsen
- Sachsen-Anhalt
- Schleswig-Holstein / Hamburg
- Thüringen
In addition to the primarily digital solutions in this article, there are of course also “old-fashioned” ways of shortening supply chains. Information on weekly markets can be found on the websites of villages and towns. In addition, many supermarkets now advertise regional foods.