Independent Food Distribution

Our food distribution project was started with several ambitions in mind.

First and foremost to increase the availability of local, seasonal produce. And there is a very good reason to do that as it is in our own health's interest. Seasonal produce typically contains more of exactly what we need during the different seasons.

Secondly to significantly reduce the links in the food distribution chain, for several other good reasons. When buying local produce, you can get newly harvested, fresh crops and significantly reduce transportation, storage and packaging needs – if you cut out the many middlemen. And on top of gained freshness and decreased transportation needs – both you and the local farmer can get a better deal and thus adding positively to sustainability on both sides.

Lastly but perhaps in some ways most importantly, to develop and ensure the existence of free, community supported, independent food distribution chains. In the short term to rival the commercial distribution chains often controlled by the large supermarket chains and provide consumer options that are, perhaps, less profitable but more sustainable. In the longer term to ensure a well functioning food distribution in case of future crises, some of which might severely impair the current market flow. We have been little prepared for the most recent crises – let's be better prepared for the coming ones.

Each of those ambitions alone make such a project worth pursuing.

And so we set out to build an independent, open sourced distribution system, which allows local consumers to buy local produce directly from the farmer via locally established food coops, supporting those already existing with a better IT infrastructure and hopefully supporting the establishment of many new food coops all over the world.

Phase 1

In phase 1, we established a collaboration with KBHFF, a well-established food coop based in Copenhagen. They had an established network of local producers and customers, and 9 delivery points around Copenhagen. Their IT infrastructure had been developed by changing developers and left something to be desired in terms of user-friendliness and features. Thus we agreed to develop a new member system and webshop for them, with a workgroup designated by the KBHFF general assembly. The development was done in close collaboration with our own IT project spinoff, parentNode – an IT company with a strong drive towards sustainability in development.

To form a functioning developer team for the project we also did a 5 months intensive programming course, focused on the KBHFF project.

Phase 1 of the project was finalized and launched in October 2021. It includes a full membership system, a webshop, new website and the administration system used to run the 9 KBHFF outlets in Copenhagen. Additional features are continuously being included as part of the onwards development of the platform. The licensing ensures a freely available system, where new features must be shared with other users of the platform.

Phase 2

The next phase of the project entails offering the extensive platform to other food coops in Denmark. It is our hope and belief that the platform can be an asset for any existing food coop, allowing them to focus on the core of their purpose – to distribute high quality local produce. This also includes making information about the platform available to potential new food coops, thus hopefully aiding in translating more good intentions into actions.

Phase 2 is currently in the early stages and any contributions to this phase is warmly welcomed. If you share any of the above ambitions or desires, then don't hesitate to reach out to the team lead.