Between 2018 and 2024, the food hub model generated revenues of over 3 million euros, promoted over 4,000 local products from over 400 small producers and brought local food to over 100,000 consumers within the pilot project supported by Romanian-American Foundation, which we implemented together with our partners.
These data can be found in the report Food Hubs: Models for the development of short agri-food chains in Romania, produced by the Romanian Center for European Policies – CRPE.
The network of food hubs, financed by the Romanian-American Foundation (RAF), started in 2017 through the national development of five pilot projects of food hub type structures, each entity being established as an LLC and adapted to the specifics of the area of ​​activity and its requirements. Each of these entities (n.r. food hubs) are wholly owned by non-governmental organizations that pursue rural development objectives through their statute and activity. Therefore, the possible economic benefits that would come from the activity carried out by food hubs also return to the local communities, through the various programs carried out by the organizations that own these structures. The vision of the program was to pilot a model of local economic development, by associating small and medium farmers, as well as small producers of local products, complementary to the one experienced through agricultural cooperatives.