The second Strength2Food Annual meeting was organised by the CREDA team in Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain, on 20-21 April 2017. The Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB), composed of 8 experts from both research and industry also attended to interact directly and share knowledge with WP Leaders and project partners. In total, 88 delegates attended the Annual Meeting. The SAB members will act as ‘critical friends’ to the project, the project’s progress and its strategic direction. The project meeting focused on progress to date and planning activities for the next 12 months. Results for pilot studies measuring the economic, social and environmental impact of Food Quality Schemes, Public Sector Food Procurement and Short Food Supply Chains were presented. The pilot studies are informing a large set of case studies for which data collection is commencing. Discussions were also organised to present the results and on-going activities relating to communication and knowledge exchange , empirical analyses of existing datasets on farmers’ engagement and performance, consumer analysis, hybrid forums, as well as the six demonstration initiatives relating to: i. school meals in Croatia and Serbia; ii. In-store trials with KONZUM grocery retailer to upscale sales of local produce; iii. expanding producer cooperation and regional food labelling in Hungary and Serbia; iv. stimulating a short supply chain for fish in the UK; v. the promotion of food quality schemes products in non-traditional markets in Poland; vi. a communication campaign via a smartphone app to promote farmers’ markets in the South of Italy. A training workshop on interim reporting was also organised by the UNEW team.
