Full case study report: Kiuruvesi Municipal Catering - Finland

Summary

The Kiuruvesi municipality the pioneer in using local and organic food (LOF) in the statutory municipal catering services. The LOF strategy has been determined since the 1990’ies. The strengths lie in the rich regional production structure of agriculture and in the commitment of the municipal authorities to the LOF concept. The LOF strategy is based on territorial approach, and it has been adopted as means of enhancing the attractiveness of the municipality, which is located in a fairly remote area and which has been facing declining population development over the past decades. Prioritising LOF in public food services is an important ingredient in the Kiuruvesi municipality’s brand as the capital of ecological Finland. As a public actor the municipal catering service is constrained by the law of public procurements. Prioritising LOF requires careful planning of the tender calls, so that local products could be chosen among the offers. The major restriction in use of LOF is the availability of the products suitable in view of the needs of the institutional kitchens. The price constraints are compensated by substituting expensive items with nutritionally comparable less expensive items and by careful menu planning. Over the years the LOF concept has brought about various kinds of food entrepreneurship to the region. The Kiuruvesi case, thus, allows evaluate the impact of the institutional kitchens on the development of the small enterprises and on co-operation among them and with the catering sector. It also demonstrates the gradual development of the competitive bidding procedure from price-based tender calls towards anticipatory dialogue and interaction among the producers and catering personnel and as an impulse to product development.