Feeding megacities - the case of leafy green/lettuce chain

According to FAO (2016), the production of fruit and vegetables in the world would have to triple to provide a healthy diet for everyone. The combination of continued rapid urbanisation of China, growing urban middle class, and COVID19 means that the demand for nutritious, trust worthy, safe, and premium quality fruit and vegetables will only accelerate in the coming future. Integrated horticulture system has significant benefits over open field production in terms of quality, variety, resource efficiency, reliability, food safety and so on. Growing near megacities, or shorter supply chains, can further reduce transport, emissions, and food waste.

What are the opportunities and challenges for bringing the Dutch technology and knowhow to China to effectively develop metropolitan horticultural systems and supply chains? How to ensure premium quality and food safety throughout the chain, and winning the loyalty of urban consumers in China? How to manage risks to develop a successful 'tury-key' business model as premium metropolitan horticulture system operators? I joined with leading companies representing the entire horticulture chain to give exclusive insights into these questions through project visits, personal interviews and roundtable discussions. Two concrete product examples are featured to understand how the chain - from seed to plate - is organised and how to position and develop the potential markets. These two product cases are: leafy green/lettuce and soft fruit (e.g. strawberry and raspberry). The focus is on how the different players along the chain collaborate with each other to innovate and develop new approaches.