Creating Entrepreneurs in Food

reating Entrepreneurs in Food is a collaborative project of four partners from Ireland, UK, Poland and Belgium. At the time of the project proposal there were no defined European strategies to develop the short food supply chain, though this is now becoming an area of increased research and priority across a variety of European initiatives. Short food supply chains are defined as having as ‘few links as possible between the food producer and the citizen who eats the food’. They typically involve local producers promoting local food produce and have continuously been highlighted as an area for potential market growth in Europe. The standard education for food producers has traditionally been based around production with no focus on sales and marketing, processing or other entrepreneurial-like skills that will empower producers to gain value for their products. The overarching aim of the project was to enhance entrepreneurial training in VET, encompassing work-based learning, aimed at those in t he short food supply chain.
The specific objectives of the project were to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe by: Developing a curriculum specific for the short food supply chain incorporating work-based learning to stimulate entrepreneurship; Empowering food producers to gain control of their business models and move up the value chain through engaging in training and networking; Providing a web platform for knowledge exchange between education and enterprises. In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the project a number of activities took place: a needs analysis of the target group, multiplier events; learning, teaching and training Activities and a conference. The main purpose of this project was to help create future job creators. By developing an entrepreneurial mind set, the project helped to empower participants to see the potential for their own businesses. This is the first project to create a bespoke VET curriculum in the area of entrepreneurship aimed at those in the short food supply chain. By collaborating with European partners, the developed outputs benefitted from the contribution of a broader range of food entrepreneurs.