Horticulture ecosystems geared towards maximizing societal value creation

The horticulture sector in Zuid-Holland to support SMEs are interested in reducing waste and creating new value streams from undervalued output, therefore improving their sustainability profile. This project pulls together all stakeholders to identify win-win solutions.

Business value chains that are attentive towards the environment and stakeholders at large are highly instrumental towards societal value creation. This project engages with the horticulture sector in Zuid-Holland to support SMEs interested in reducing waste and creating new value streams from undervalued output, therefore improving their sustainability profile. Bio-based materials that arise from the production of crops offer great opportunities for novel applications, including both food and non-food streams (e.g. bio-based building materials), where they have the potential to replace less sustainable resources and products.

The transition towards the bio-based economy is accompanied by many challenges, as it requires complex stakeholder participation and partnerships, multi-disciplinary thinking and cooperation and an outside-in approach. SMEs dedicated to realize such sustainable business opportunities therefore need adequate insights and tools to engage stakeholders along the value chain, so that win-win solutions are found at every step involved, from growers to end customer.

The immediate goal of the project is to establish this bio-based economy by pulling together the value chain, explore how to streamline needs, requirements and solutions, and develop marketing tools so that all stakeholders can position themselves and their products well on the market.

Contributing researcher

Ms. Diana Barbara Perra

Want to know more?

Are you representing an organization that is interested in learning more or collaborating with us on projects to support a transition towards more purposeful business practices, please contact Diana Perra at D.B.Perra@hhs.nl.