Developing the concept

Teagasc Organic Specialist, Joe Kelleher, brought a group of Organic Producers together in September 2024, along with The Urban Co-Op, Master Chefs, and UoG, to discuss the potential for a Bio District in the Mid-West when DAFM announced a fund for developing short food supply chains. West Limerick Resources CLG joined the project as administrative partner and the group were awarded funding to explore digital solutions, promote the initiative, learn from external experts, and to allocate a part-time project coordinator to ‘Lay the Foundations for a Mid-West Bio District’, what would be the first in Ireland. 

We planned the project delivery over 20 months made up of 3 phases of 6 months each with a 2-month wrap-up. The first phase was very much about reaching out to others already in the sector. This included producers, food policy specialists, Teagasc reps, certifying bodies, DAFM, third level institutions, chef’s, caterers, innovation hubs, and many, many more. The key to the success of our project would be working closely with the sector to add value to existing work, and to find the niche where we could focus our efforts and have the most significant impact.