Challenge provider
Vreta Kluster is a meeting place and innovation environment for local and regional green industries. We bring together businesses, academia, the public sector and other stakeholders to develop agriculture and food systems of the future.
By fostering collaboration across different areas of expertise, Vreta Kluster creates the conditions for innovation, new business models and solutions to societal challenges.
Background
Food must be available every day, even in times of crisis. This is central to preparedness and resilience.
Östergötland is a major food-producing region, with substantial production of grain, milk, eggs, meat and other food products. However, high production does not automatically mean the food supply can be maintained when society is not functioning as usual.
For food to reach its destination, it must move through the entire food supply chain. Milk needs to be transported from the farm to the dairy. Livestock needs to reach the slaughterhouse. Grain needs to be transported to a mill or other processing facility. Finished food products then need to be distributed to wholesalers, retailers, public-sector kitchens, and other stakeholders, which is essential for resilience when society is not functioning as usual.
Today’s food system depends on efficient logistics that cross municipal and county borders. Food production in Östergötland is integrated into a broader national food system. However, significant vulnerabilities persist. Much of the processing occurs in a small number of large facilities, and transportation relies on infrastructure, fuel, energy, IT, and communications. Disruptions at critical nodes or in essential flows can affect several areas of the food supply chain. As a result, even with abundant food and raw materials, delivering food to where it is needed can remain challenging. Effective food logistics and distribution are therefore essential for society’s preparedness and resilience during major disruptions, heightened alerts, or even war.
The challenge
How can we create more resilient food logistics and distribution chains, starting from Östergötland?
Your task is to explore how raw materials and food products move through the food supply chain – from primary production through processing and onward to the next stage – identify a specific vulnerability, bottleneck or untapped opportunity that could impede the flow, and develop a solution that makes the chain more resilient under disrupted conditions.
- Critical nodes – vulnerabilities arising when an important processing facility, such as a dairy, slaughterhouse or mill, a key transport route, or another central function is unavailable.
- Alternative flows – opportunities for raw materials or food products to take different routes through the system.
- Regional processing capacity – the possibility of using smaller or alternative facilities, such as on-farm slaughterhouses, farm dairies or game-handling facilities, in a different or more flexible way.
- Transport and fuel – solutions that enable food to keep moving even when fuel or transport capacity is limited.
- Coordination and resource sharing – new ways for businesses and other stakeholders to share transport, storage, capacity or other resources.
- Information and digital solutions – better information about available raw materials and transport or processing capacity to strengthen the resilience of the system.
- New collaboration or business models – ways of organising flows and capacity that create value both in day-to-day operations and during a disruption.
These are possible starting points – not a list of ready-made solutions.
The solution may be a new service, technology, business model, collaboration model, logistics solution, digital solution, method, or a new way of using existing resources and capacity.
Preparedness That Also Works Day to Day
A resilient food supply chain must be established before a crisis strikes. However, maintaining capacity and solutions that are useful only during emergencies can be challenging. The most effective approaches deliver dual benefits: they enhance day-to-day food logistics while simultaneously bolstering resilience against major disruptions. For example, it could be a new collaboration model, transport solution, regional processing capacity or digital service that already serves a clear purpose today while also strengthening preparedness.
We are looking for creative and feasible ideas that can help keep food moving through the food supply chain – in day-to-day operations, during a crisis and, ultimately, in wartime.