Gastrocampo

The journey from farm to fork is multilayered and opaque. There are too many costly middlemen and too little clarity about the quality and origin of our food.

Farmers and food Producers are the biggest losers in this equation: for every euro we spend on food, just 15% goes to the producer, because negotiating power lies in the hands of a small minority of food buyers, putting many food production businesses at risk. 

Gastrocampo is born with the firm vocation of making this system fairer and more sustainable, by combining technology and logistics to offer a real, scalable and multi-local solution.

We are building a saas-enabled marketplace with the aim of digitizing sustainable small/medium farmers and food manufacturers, directly connecting them to their clients, cutting out the middleman and making short food supply chains scalable.

For every euro consumers spend on food, only 14.8 cents goes to farmer, according to PAC.

Right now, the journey from farm to fork is multilayered and opaque. In the current global (but archaic) food supply chain system, there are too many costly middlemen and too little clarity about the quality and origin of our food. 

This happens because 85% of 12 million European food producers are family-owned farms&small companies with low tech-profile, no commercial and logistic forces. Hence they sell through wholesalers at low prices and loss of control on their products, preventing them from being able to manage their production, sales&distribution in a direct way, leading to a lack of financial stability. 

Between 2003 and 2013, 30% of farmers shut down their operations and just 3,1% of companies are managing 55% of EU agricultural land.

Short food supply chain could be a sustainable alternative, but current models struggle in the intent of being scalable because they are offline solutions, hyper-local and expensive in terms of logistic.

Food producers wishing to sell their produce directly need to increase volumes by associating with other agricultural enterprises, in order to provide a wider range of products and lower logistic costs. 

Gastrocampo is a SAAS-enabled marketplace giving sustainable food producers the tools to digitize their farms&business so they can connect and sell their produce directly to their clients, eliminating the need for intermediaries. 

Clients are both from the B2B sector (restaurants, canteens, caterings, local small & medium shops) and consumers (B2C). 

We do not rely on a warehousing system. Instead, we are building a crowdsourced logistic system, using geolocalization, AI and ML to match producers locations and pick-up slots with clients´one to get fresh food from farm to table/restaurant/shop in a sustainable & direct way. We cut out storage fees and costly middlemen, while giving back food producers full sovereignty on the whole process.

It also makes us much more agile and able to scale our operations every time we enter a new area.

AI and blockchain will be used in a second version of the platform to ensure complete traceability and transparency. Gastrocampo already has +100 food producers waiting to be added to the platform and upon launching our app MVP we received more than 1500 unique visitors in 1 month and no paid advertising. 

We are working with small/medium food producers, family farms and manufacturers, with annual income lower than 100.000 euros.

All the projects and companies have to comply with at least one of our 15 sustainability requirements. 

Average age is 40 years old, 70% family-owned companies, with 8 average employees, new generation of farmers / food-producers, focused on sustainability. 

We made 47 in-person interviews with them, either in Customer development phase (to understand their problems, how they are facing them, and what they would like to improve or what they need to better their current situation) and in Prototyping Phase, in order to develop a real useful solution for them and easy to use. We are asking feedback to some of them every time we add functionalities to our product.

Our solution is giving them the opportunity to:

• get and directly manage new clients, increasing their sales;

• earn higher margins;

• better organize their stocks and production;

• better predict their demand;

• in some cases expand their operations to serve new and higher demand;

• earn extra money giving logistical service to nearby farmers/producers thanks to our geolocalized crowdsourced logistic system.

By combining technology and logistics innovation, we're demonstrating that a new food supply chain is possible. Traditional supply chain is based on a centralized & global system, while we are creating a de-centralized, multi-local yet scalable and profitable alternative solution.

We're giving small & medium sustainable food producers digital tools to manage their sales and customer relationships. Our innovative logistics is reducing emissions by optimizing routes and enabling farmers to cooperate between them, using empty capacity in smaller vehicles already making journeys in and around our cities.

Through ML, we reduce food loss, enabling our producers to predict the demand.

We use technology and logistics to change the old-fashioned food supply chain. A new sustainable food supply chain has to be decentralized, giving back to food producers the value they create, avoiding unnecessary steps between production and consumption, ensuring food sovereignty for all.

We're competing with:

- Traditional wholesalers. Compared to them, we give food producers digital tools to directly manage the process of selling their goods, decide their own prices, and control the destination of their products. They won't need wholesalers since they will be able to sell all their production.

Consumers&restaurant owners will benefit from better prices, transparency on food origin.

Other farm to fork e-commerces:

We are not an e-commerce, we are a marketplace. We don’t want to replicate online the same scheme of traditional offline wholesalers. We allow a direct and transparent relationship between the source of food and its consumption. We are not buying anything at wholesale price. Producers are the ones who fix their own prices.

Other Marketplaces farm to fork:

• They usually target B2C clients, leading to High Acquisition costs. Our model is B2B2C: deal with restaurants, schools, and companies rather than individual consumers;

• Strong focus on sustainability: most of the platforms are focusing just on organic products. This is just one of many sustainability requirements we use to select our producers.

• we are developing a crowdsourced logistic system based on geolocalization, AI&ML to optimize routes avoiding warehouses to stock products and allowing producers to cooperate between them to deliver the goods.

Gastrocampo is a new business model that relies on technology to function. 

Regarding technologies we are using:

- Software to manage digital marketplace, enabling our producers to manage directly their online catalogues, prices, stocks. 

- We are building our own SAAS to communicate with our producers and update their data, stock and prices on a weekly basis.

- Blockchain to ensure full and transparent info about producers sustainability practices 

- Combining AI and ML in different areas:

LOGISTICS: 

- Geolocalize and Match producers offering delivery service with others who cannot do deliveries 

- for Intelligent Route Optimization

-to match different pick-up time-slot from different producers and final clients delivery time slot, allowing same day pick-up and delivery

- API 

CRM FOR PRODUCERS:

- predict demand for producers in order to predict stock needed 

- predict prices of goods due to offer and seasonality

The technologies we use are widely applied and accepted including in various companies similar to Gastrocampo in other markets such as Grubmarket in the USA (2014, $32 Million Revenue in 2018): 

Regarding AI & ML applied to logistic: see here

The algorithm we will develop behind our sustainability criterias and subsequent sustainability ranking is successfully being applied by a French Startup.

Our interviews with 47 food producers shed light on the need for our platform since producers confirmed:

•  the lack of digitization of the sector: our research also showed that roughly only 30% of food producers have an online presence (web or social media profile) out of which only 15% have an online shop. We based our analysis on the database of 500 food producers from the Spanish region of Catalonia. Hence, these issues must be addressed in order to build a sustainable food supply chain.

•  the heavy and inefficient selling and cashing-in process

• and most urgently enabling logistics

• They also urge for more respect and higher income for their work, control over prices and more help to evolve from traditional farming techniques aggressive for the environment to transitioning to sustainable farming practices. In 2019, the agricultural sector in Spain has seen overall income drop by 8.6%.

Moreover, third-party research including think-tanks, universities and public institutions such as the EU all confirm that short food supply chains are essential to building sustainable food systems (2013, Short Food Supply Chains and Local Food Systems in the EU. A State of Play of their Socio-Economic Characteristics, Joint Research Centre): they have a positive impact on society, the economy (helps in developing rural areas) and the environment.  

Critics mention that such chains can only work on the local level. This is due to 2 things: there is a confusion between Local Food Systems-LFS- (not Gastrocampo) and Short Food Supply Chain-SFSC- (Gastrocampo). Most solutions have been focused on LFS and when SFSC are implemented, they lack the logistics component and do not include leveraging sustainable production but only local production. Gastrocampo takes a complete approach to sustainability, not only “locavorism”.

Our theory of change available here

https://docs.google.com/presen...

According to our business plan and projections, these are our key numbers estimations:

NOW

#digitalized food producers on the Platform: 47

#Active Consumer users: 1500

#Active Businesses buying fresh food directly from producers on the platform: 0

YEAR 1

#digitalized food producers on the Platform: 300

#Active Consumer users: 15.000

#Active Businesses buying fresh food directly from producers on the platform: 15

For the first 2 years we are going to focus on Catalunya area and Barcelona, digitalizing as many food producers as possible, while improving our technology and preparing it to scale. From third year on, we will expand to Madrid area and from the fourth year in País Vasco, before expanding to the whole of Spain from the fifth year.

In 5 years:

-  5.000 producers in Spain managing directly their productions and sales, increasing 400% their margins on sales, improving their standards of living and allowing them to sustainably grow their business.

- 200.000 final consumers monthly that eat local and sustainably sourced food

- 1.500 local businesses will be able to buy local sustainably sourced food, with cheaper and more transparent pricing.

Gastrocampo is on a mission to demonstrate that an innovative, fairer and more sustainable food supply chain is not only possible, but scalable worldwide.

Our main goal in the next year will be improving our the technology&processes together with small food producers, with the aim to create a real useful tool for them, and measure the real impact on their life and businesses.

At the same time, we need to push sales in order to find first B2B clients (companies, co-working, restaurants, catering, hotels) for those producers.

In 5 years, we want to scale the solution to Spain, in order to demonstrate that a multi-local yet scalable system is feasible. We are going to share our Saas-enabled marketplace and tech-driven logistic system to other communities, enabling them to replicate the impact in their countries. 

Our goal is to turn food producers digital. With the older more traditional generation we encounter barriers as they are first reluctant to change and technology, especially farmers. Our customer acquisition cost for this collective can quickly be quite high. Food artisans and younger farmers on the other hand have been much more receptive. 

For the B2B clients, using our platform requires a change of mindset for the ones that do not already buy directly from the producer. We can encounter frictions related to the price and the delivery time in the first year. In the next 5 years though as we will have our innovative logistics in place, these barriers will diminish.For restaurants that are already doing sustainable sourcing, our ´early adopters´, the barrier can be due to usability of the platform. 

We are currently looking for a CTO to integrate our team of founders, so this first year we have been building the platform with integrated technology ourselves thanks to the help of our mentors but until we find this person it can be quite challenging. In 5 years time, with enough growth and funding we will have a dedicated team of developers.

Financially speaking, as we grow we need external investments which is always challenging. 

To overcome the farmers’ rejection to using technology, we will first help “young farmers” and build our customer database, counting on the positive network effect to influence them into joining Gastrocampo. We will also partner with farmers’ associations to spread the word. We have a dedicated sales team that will be in charge of visiting some of the most reluctant farmers as we have seen that we need in-person meetings with this collective to implement the solution. 

To gain shares of the B2C market,  we have devised an effective, time and money efficient strategy to get final customers, one that none of our competitors are currently doing. To get our B2B clients, we are focusing first on restaurants that are already doing sustainable sourcing, they are really excited to be able to save time, order more efficiently and discover more local producers hence we expect them to help us with the usability of the platform so we can bring our solution to other clients and impact the system. 

In terms of funding, our goal is to raise our pre-seed round mainly through Grants, public loans and Social Impact Business Angels. We attended 3 accelerator programs and we built a strong network of mentors and potential investors in the public and private sector. If we are not reaching the amount we need, we are going to prepare for crowdfunding. Last option will be asking for a bank loan to reach the missing amount. 

No

Sofia Furlotti - co-founder - Full Time

Lea Blanchard - co-founder - Full Time

Helga López - Marketing Manager - Volounteer - Part Time 

We are a fully dedicated team both with years of experience in big marketplace companies and with hands-on experience in the food industry thanks to our previous projects. 

Sofia has more than 7 years of experience in PRIVALIA in sales, operations and digital. She has a Master in Digital Marketing and a Degree in Economics and Politics. In 2018 founded Junglefoodie, a sustainable food delivery-only business in Barcelona.
Sofia Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/so...

Lea has worked for Amazon Marketplace, in B2B sales account management. She is also the founder of the Sustainability @ Amazon program in Barcelona, leading the team of employees who wanted to get involved in sustainable projects within the company. She has a Degree in International Relations and Economics. She founded in 2018 Tasty Hour, a sustainable catering service for companies and co-working spaces in Barcelona. Lea's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/le...

We are both training on sustainability issues: we are attending MIT Solve course, FFT, Google Food & Ag Accelerator of Future Digital Labs, and EIT program for sustainability.

We have been selected in 2 local Accelerator programs (LaSalleTechnova, Basque Culinary Center), creating a great support network with top mentors in technology and communication. Barcelona's local wholesale market MERCABARNA is also supporting us as they are looking for developing their services in a more sustainable way.

We are building our current solution based on first-hand experiences within the industry. We have made the necessary contacts to go fast and be successful.

We are working hand in hand with local government agencies:

- Diputacio de Barcelona: we are in contact with their local food production&distribution department and they have given us access to their database of local food producers with whom they have shared our initiative helping us in gaining trust and visibility among the producers.

- Generalitat de Catalunya: they have a wider database of food producers of the whole region of Catalunya as well as an online platform where local actors can find options to distribute their produce. They have selected Gastrocampo as one of these options. 

- Ayuntamiento de Barcelona: this is the city hall and they have developed a crowdsourced platform of the city's sustainable businesses and Gastrocampo has also been featured on it. We are in the process of getting a grant from them within the framework of the city's plan of becoming "World Capital of Sustainable Food" 2021. 

- Slow Food Association of Catalunya: they are a network of food businesses and restaurants that share a common goal of sustainability. They have also given us access to their database of sustainable restaurants and producers in Catalunya and it is with them that we are going to start our first pilot with B2B clients.

-FAO: we are part of their awareness and collaboration program on food loss and waste

-During the Covid19 emergency, our app MVP got noticed and featured in various national and local media: El Pais, Via Empresa, Medium, and the radio

As a SAAS-enabled marketplace

• we split our 20% transaction fee between producers and B2B clients 

• a set-up fee to create their digital catalogue and sustainability profile

• monthly subscription fee for added services (marketing tools, sustainability calculator, etc)

Gastrocampo allows producers to take back control of their place in the food supply chain ensuring its sustainability. 

We empower restaurants to source food sustainably and very easily.  We boost consumer’s consciousness and propel them to consume responsibly.

As such, we measure our impact thanks to:

• #of small-scale farmers added to the platform (meaning we helped them either transition to be more sustainable or supported them in what they were already doing)

• the producers’ average margin on the platform compared to average margin in other channels (in %, via an annual study) indicating respect for their work

• #of restaurants and caterings added to the platform and the gross value in € transacted directly between them and the producers, meaning they are now sourcing food sustainably

• #of consumers frequently buying on Gastrocampo and the gross value in € transacted directly between them and the producers indicating a shift in consumers values and consumption model 

• the food sustainability calculator overall index that measures the impact of the produce/menu overall and in these 4 areas: societal, economic, environmental, fauna and flora on a color-scale 

We're part of our city’s Sustainable Company Network and the Sustainable Restaurants Association among other food sustainability groups (Slow Food…).

We are applying to Solve to:

1. GET MENTORSHIP in different fields

- Technology: both for our platform development and logistic system relying on AI and ML. We hope to find mentorship to strenghten our roadmap, to help us with future incorporations, find successful solutions on the market, and possibly meet other startups to collaborate with.

- Marketing&Sale: mentorship to help us with the implementation of our marketing plan, prioritizing some actions against others, share insights and plan new actions, etc.

- Social Impact: we hope to find Mentors helping us to build&measure our Impact in terms of sustainability, and implement Blockchain to trace Producers Info we are actually doing with self-certifications made public on the website.

- Business Model&Scaling

2. FUNDING 

3. HELP US APPLYING TO AI for Humanity Prize

We are excited to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs and MIT mentors that share our vision. It would be great to find within the MIT global community startups that might have gone through the same process of digitizing farmers as well as complementary startups (logistics, blockchain and AI). We would like to find business partners to do a pilot test of our B2B2C acquisition strategy. 

We'd love to connect with experts on food sustainability able to help us dive deeper into our sustainability scoring system. It would help us to gain even more visibility thanks to the challenge and have access to impact investors as we are preparing our first round and get a stronger discourse for our potential CTO. We are looking to complete our board of advisors with experts who, like us, believe that a sustainable food system is not only possible but also scalable and profitable for all.

- Megan J. Smith (CEO shift7, 3rd U.S. CTO, Entrepreneur, Engineer) for Tech Mentoring

- Destácame (Empowering micro, small, and medium enterprises with an alternative credit scoring platform)

- Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research
- Global Compact
- MacArthur Foundation

Gastrocampo is a technology-based solutions that spur good jobs and inclusive entrepreneurial opportunities. 

We are enabling small and new businesses to prosper and create good jobs through our network platform and technology.

We would like to apply AI and ML to solve the big issue enabling the success of multi-local short food supply chains: Logistics.

We are going to implement AI and ML to:

- show clients only the producers delivering in their area;

- Optimize Intelligent Routes;

- geolocalize and match producers offering delivery service to others in the same area to optimize operations;

- match pick-up time-slot of different producers with final clients ones, allowing same day pick-up and delivery