How to support small-scale farmers and companies in public food tendering.
This guide aims to offer practical legal advice to public procurers and stakeholders interested in connecting public food procurement with small-scale farmers and SMEs, focusing on short food supply chains. The guide addresses procurement methods, organization, and criteria aligned with the COACH project’s goals of sourcing healthy, sustainable, and affordable food from local suppliers. The toolkit provides insights into making tender processes more accessible to SMEs and farmers, covering topics ranging from legal considerations for tenders below thresholds to criteria for tenders above thresholds, and exploring innovative approaches like dynamic food procurement.