What is a food hub?

2024-05-14

Definition, advantages and impact

Are you familiar with food logistics hubs? Also known as food hubs, food logistics hubs are physical or virtual infrastructures that perform a variety of functions in the supply chain:

Production
First-mile aggregation
Refrigerated storage
Processing
Marketing
Last-mile distribution
Services with a social dimension

Their main goal? To better serve all the players in the supply cycle, from farm to table.

Specifically, food hubs are collaborative projects led by a cooperative enterprise or NPO that brings together farmers, individuals and organizations, among others.

Their business models are innovative and motivated by the social economy. In fact, food hubs place great emphasis on positive social and environmental impacts. Stakeholders work together to build local, sustainable food systems that are environmentally sound and socially and economically robust.

For producers, working within a food hub is particularly beneficial, allowing them to access infrastructure, develop new markets, and improve their skills. Food hubs also strengthen the competitiveness of the local agri-food sector.

An inspiring model for L’Aube Food Hub

This was the inspiration for the creation of L’Aube Food Hub. Its mission is to strengthen the resilience of member farms and their operational capacity to serve various local markets in order to democratize the purchase of local, organic products. To guide it in its mission, L’Aube focuses on five values: innovation, collaboration, proximity, solidarity and sustainability.

Through innovation, we’re pioneering new methods of local marketing in Quebec. Our practices benefit our organic farms and the community as a whole.

Through collaboration, we cultivate strong partnerships with all stakeholders in the food industry, each of whom actively contributes to innovation in the food sector and in the local economy. It goes beyond our day-to-day operations to become a strategic pillar connecting all food stakeholders.

Through proximity, we forge strong human connections between organic farms and consumers, focusing not only on geographic proximity but also on social proximity. We place it at the heart of our efforts to create a resilient food model.

Through solidarity, we provide unwavering support to small-scale producers and advocate for more equitable access to healthy food.

Finally, through sustainability, we adopt practices that minimize our environmental footprint. We ensure the sustainable use of production resources to strengthen the resilience of the ecosystem on which our food depends.

So far, L’Aube’s gamble seems to be paying off and the numbers speak for themselves.

Since its inception, 16 institutions have been and are being supplied by our partner farms. That means more people than ever are enjoying healthy local fruits and vegetables, including more than 600 children in six daycare centres and more than 9,000 beneficiaries in four hospitals, as well as three community food organizations, some bulk grocery stores and restaurants.

Also, in keeping with our raison d’être, our fruits and vegetables traveled an average of only 34.25 km in 2023. Compared to an average of 2,500 km in the conventional food system*, we are reducing our environmental impact related to food transportation and the associated GHG emissions.

Are you ready to participate in 2024?

Whether you work for a local organic farm that wants to offer its products, or for an organization that could benefit from them, your participation is most welcome.

Contact us at info@laubepolenourricier.ca to get started!

* Équiterre, How can we limit the distance that our food travels?