Agrifood Partnership of Central Greece (APCG)
The Agrodiatrofiki Sympraxi Perifereias Stereas Elladas (ASPSE) - (Agrifood Partnership of Central Greece - APCG) is a non-profit organization founded by the Region of Central Greece, as a joint venture between public and private institutions active in the sector.
The primary goal of ASPSE is to raise the awareness of the Central Greek agrifood sector as well as to validate and promote locally produced agrifood products. ASPSE also offers a wide range of supporting and consulting services to businesses of the primary and secondary sector of the regional Central Greek economy. ASPSE’s members comprise municipalities, chambers of commerce, agricultural cooperatives, federations, and private enterprises.
It lists a number of companies and producers in the agri-food sector of Central Greece. The long tradition in combination with the introduction of innovative products & processes, but also the extroverted orientation are what mainly characterize the large productive “family” of the Region.
The Agrifood Partnership of Central Greece serves a wide range of goals exclusively aiming for the public benefit. The organization’s ultimate beneficiaries are the region’s agrifood producers, processors, as well as other businesses operating In the tertiary sector of the F&B industry, such as the HORECA sub-sector.
ASPSE aims to:
- Increase the awareness of locally produced agrifood products.
- Promote and disseminate the local as well as the Mediterranean diet.
- Validate and promote the Central Greek “basket” of goods.
- Bridge the gap between producers and consumers.
Sustainable Practices of the Member of ASPSE
The unused parts of the products are returned to soil as organic fertilizer for the following years harvest, making this a zero waste, sustainable operation. Finally, the producers have ISO certified which provides the framework to identify business activities that significant affect the environment, to set objectives and targets to minimize those effects, and to develop programmes to achieve targets and implement other operational control measures to ensure compliance with environmental policy.
By adopting such systems, ASPSE managed:
- Greater resource efficiency and reduced waste, leading to lower costs.
- Better public image by providing assurances that environmental impact is being measured.
- Improved compliance with environmental regulations and better ability to adapt to new regulations.
- Improved overall environmental impact.
The Members of ASPSE:
- Do not use chemical pesticides.
- Recycling organic waste.
- Use naturally occurring pest replant that are non-toxic.
- Are familiar that the new innovative techniques can also accelerate the process of reducing dependency on pesticides use quality seeds for plant varieties.
- Tackling food loss and waste, recovery of nutrients and secondary raw materials respect the rules of the animal welfare according to the EU Regulations.
- Do not use antimicrobials for farmed animals.
- Use of circular economy methods in the production. An example of circular economy is the reuse of organic waste as fertilizer.
- Use of organic waste for the production of power & heat.
- Improve animal welfare.
- Promote sustainable consumption.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
