EU4Advice - Press Release - Short Food Supply Chains

Summary

This press release presents research by EU4Advice on improving the logistics of short food supply chains (local/regional food networks). The study, published in Transportation Research D, used real-world data from a regional food hub in North East England (FADNE's "Local Heroes" initiative) and combined optimization modelling with machine learning.

Key findings:

• Food hubs already reduce costs and emissions, but producer collaboration can improve them further
• Switching to electric vehicles could cut transport costs by ~33% and carbon emissions by up to 70%
• Data-driven logistics strategies offer significant additional gains

The research will feed into training materials for food supply chain advisors across Europe. The project is funded by the EU's Horizon Europe programme.