Players Along the Food Value Chain

In order to ensure a balanced diet and to bring high-quality food and beverages to the consumer, the most diverse actors along the value chain are required to interact. This covers several sectors:

• Raw materials from local agriculture are the starting point for the production of food. Due to the trend towards regional products and their embedment in a diverse cultural landscape, the Lower Austrian agriculture sector is of particular importance.
• No less colorful is the variety of companies involved in the processing of these raw materials to create high-quality food products. The bandwidth ranges from small, family-run businesses to medium-sized companies with special market niches all the way to large companies with their own research and technology competencies.
• An important link in the animal food value chain are the suppliers of high-quality animal feed, which have a decisive influence on the quality of the end product.
• There is a well-developed range of wholesale and retail companies to bring food from the producer to the end consumer.
• The catering and community catering establishments in Lower Austria are particularly interested in high-quality food products.
• The Cluster works together with specialized service providers for the qualification of partner companies.
• In many projects, you can rely on the know-how of research institutions, for example numerous institutes of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, the University of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and several higher technical teaching and research institutes.
• The Food Cluster can draw on the expertise of other Lower Austrian clusters. Cross-industry projects on food packaging are implemented with the Plastics Cluster, projects on energy management with the Green Building Cluster of Lower Austria, and projects on hygienic design in plant construction with the Mechatronics Cluster.

In strategic questions, the Cluster is supported by an advisory board that includes representatives of partner companies as well as experts from relevant R&D and training institutions, representatives of the Chamber of Agriculture and the Chamber of Commerce and departments of the Province of Lower Austria.