The RAFAEL partners are working well as a partnership - learning from each other and bringing a wide range of experience and ideas to the project. The achievements so far are a reflection of the commitment and hard work of the RAFAEL partners. 

The RAFAEL Charter is a set of principles agreed by all partners to define what we mean by ‘authentic food’ and guide our activities. These principles offer producers an opportunity to declare their goods as ‘authentic’ and distinguish themselves from those not commited to these principles. The principles are unique and help to define the relatively vague concepts of local and sustainable.There is a lot of interest in the RAFAEL principles from international, european and local food and farming organisations and initiatives.

The RAFAEL website (http://www.rafael-eu.com//) is on-line and full of information about the project’s activities, the RAFAEL regions and our delicious authentic food, accompanied by lots of photos and recipes. There is a section to facilitate the trade of authentic products and also a section for partners to share information and progress the project’s activities. Please have a look and let us know what you think. 

The project is developing authentic food supply chains both within the RAFAEL regions and between the RAFAEL regions. In order to support these activities a number of reports and studies have been produced to help identify the situation and highlight what is needed to support the authentic food sector. These reports are available for all partners and others to learn from each other. So far, the following reports have been produced: -Database and summary of existing market studies - Supply chain opportunities and authentic products - Organisation of producer groups - Regional reports produced by the partner’s organisations covering a range of issues including public procurement practices, direct selling and marketing 

The Programme of Technical Exchange has had three successful exchanges so far, giving over 100 producers and authentic food stakeholders the opportunity to learn about specific topics and gain an insight into practices in the other RAFAEL regions. So far the exchanges have looked at a number of issues including - co-operative working, small-scale processing, regional identification of products, the public procurement process, focusing on supplying a hospital and organic farming in natural parks. The feedback we have had from the exchanges has been good. All agree that they learnt a great deal and have been inspired by the experience. The reports from the exchanges can be found on the RAFAEL website. The next exchange will focus on school meals and short distribution systems.

Within each of the RAFAEL regions lots of activities are taking place to support and develop the authentic food sector. Support is given to encourage the development of new supply chains through organising ‘meet the producer’ events, training sessions and creating ‘where to buy’ information. Regions are focusing their activities on different outlets including schools, hospitals and care homes, as well as hotels, restuarants and local shops and direct selling through box schemes and producer markets. 

Because of the wide climatic diversity and the distinctive authentic products that reflect the RAFAEL regions, there is a good opportunity for some goods to be purchased by consumers in regions that cannot produce such goods. A number of activities are taking place to create trade links between RAFAEL regions. An international directory listing suppliers from all regions is being developed so that authenitc produce can be bought and sold directly. In addition, each region is selecting a few products that are very ‘RAFAEL’ and illustrate what the RAFAEL project is all about and pilot trade links between producer groups. 

The project is also working to communicate the benefits of authentic food to consumers, based on the principles in the RAFAEL Charter. This of course is needed to work alongside our supply chain development activities and a wide range of things have been happening both within regions and as part of the Atlantic Arc Area. Lots of exciting things have been happening within the regions, including events with tastings and cooking demonstrations, ‘food trails’ and working with agri-tourism venues. All partners have worked closely with a selection of producers to tell their story about their business and their products, and there has been a lot of media coverage, including articles in the press, on the radio and even on the television! To promote RAFAEL’s authentic food culture as part of the Atlantic Arc area, a set of colurful banners have been produced which will be accompanied by leaflets and examples of RAFAEL products. These will be used at events to communicate to consumers – food oulets, processors, local people and tourists as well as engaging producers and others in the project’s activities. 

During 2007 partners will be creating case studies on the project’s activities so that they can be compiled into a learning resource for others and also making links with other initiatives within the EU and beyond. All of the project activities will be shared at the RAFAEL conference and organic fair ‘Ecocultura’ to increase the awareness of consumers about authentic food, assess the potential of authentic food production and agree the continuation of the RAFAEL project’s aims in the regions.

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