The pilot of Montpellier is run by FAB’LIM in partnership with the Market of National Interest of the city (Marché d’Intérêt National – MIN), an urban food hub logistics platform operating as a semi-public company. The food hub distributes almost 50% local products, across all sectors, and has a processing centre for healthy, local food.
The aim of the pilot is to make decarbonisation of food logistics accessible, by setting up shared routes and using a 7.5-tonne vehicle running on 2nd-generation biofuel (Bio-GNC). This pilot project is aimed primarily at food aid associations and local farmers and processors supplying partner shops of the TERRASOL project to combat food insecurity. The idea is to set up pooled delivery rounds to encourage stakeholders who currently do not have the means to pay a professional transport service (too low volumes, non-optimised rounds, failure to integrate logistics into their business model, etc.) to transform their distribution practices in anticipation of new constraints such as the introduction of the low-emission zone and the will to relieve road congestion the city.
This pilot project is based on the conviction that improving access to the city centre for small local producers and processors requires new models of logistical organisation involving all the stakeholders of the supply chain – especially the distributors (shops, …), whose more concerted purchasing practices would support suppliers in their efforts to set up pooled delivery rounds). This implies a major awareness-raising and training effort.
The stakeholders involved in food solidarity will have a central role in this pilot insofar as they are the bearers of a promise of food democracy. Without them, any efforts to improve the quality of food supplies would only benefit a fraction of city dwellers.
Innovation in the Montpellier pilot:
- A partnership with an existing food hub logistics platform, linked to the city’s food policy
- A clear commitment to supporting local and short supply chains, while meeting the challenges of combating food insecurity
- Shared delivery routes that are jointly developed by all stakeholders
- Solutions for inclusive logistics that will enable players currently excluded from the transport market to become more professional
