Local Products

21. yüzyılda ortaya çıkan teknolojik gelişmeler, sanayileşme ve kentleşmenin neden olduğu çeşitli sosyal değişimler geleneksel mutfak kültürlerinde ve beslenme alışkanlıklarında da değişikliklere neden olmuştur. Bu değişimle beraber birçok mutfak akımı ortaya çıkmıştır. Bunlardan biri olan füzyon mutfak, farklı mutfak kültürlerinin sahip olduğu teknikleri, malzemeleri ya da ürünleri bir araya getirerek ortaya farklı lezzetler sunmayı amaç edinen bir gastronomi akımıdır. Füzyon mutfak uygulamaları, bir yandan mutfak kültürünün korunmasını sağlarken diğer yandan mutfak kültürüne evrensel bir özellik kazandırmaktadır. Aynı zamanda füzyon mutfak yenilik arayışında olan tüketiciler için de ilgi çekici bir unsur olmaktadır. Bu sebeple işletmelerin yeni ürün geliştirme ve çeşitlendirme çalışmalarında füzyon mutfak örneklerine sıkça rastlanmaktadır. Bu çalışmada İtalyan pizza hamuru ile Çanakkale’nin yöresel ürünleri kullanılarak bir füzyon mutfak örneğinin
oluşturulması amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden biri olan görüşme tekniği kullanılarak Çanakkale’de çalışan 12 mutfak şefi ile görüşülmüştür. Elde edilen veriler betimsel analiz ve içerik analizine tabii tutulmuştur. Çalışma sonucunda Çanakkale’de çalışan şeflerin büyük bir kısmının menülerinde füzyon mutfak ürünlerine yer verdiği, Çanakkale’nin yöresel ürünlerinin füzyon mutfak akımına uygun olduğu ve bu yöresel ürünlerin en çok İtalya mutfağı ve Uzakdoğu ülkelerinin mutfaklarıyla uyum sağlayacağını düşündükleri ortaya
çıkmıştır.

The project named “LOcal products Festivals and Tourism development in cross-border cooperation Greece-Bulgaria” (The LOFT Project), funded under the European Cooperation Territorial Programme “Greece – Bulgaria 2007 – 2013”, aims at: (i) promoting and reinforcing local cultural events, directly linked to local production, by building on synergies between existing local festivals and implementing a set of actions to form & sustain a network of festivals organisers; (ii) further promoting local/ traditional products. In this respect, the project examines ways to protect and promote traditional products and production through a road show travelling in the local festivals of the region and through joint activities including a contest on local festivals and products. The LOFT Project envisages also to provide an interactive web-GIS tool (a web-based map) of the fairs and festival in the in the Programme eligible area.
The current achievements of the LOFT project include the elaboration of three major deliverables: (i) a Study on the Cultural & Historical Value of Local Products; (ii) a preparatory report for the Map of the Local Fairs / Festivals on Local Products; (iii) Master Plan for Cross-Border Collaboration & Development.

The agri-food sector in the cross-border area of Greece-Cyprus is characterized by a series of unique economic, environmental, cultural and social elements, the effective utilization of which is able to transform it into one of the most dynamic and extroverted sectors of economy. Local products are considered as an integral part of local development strategies since they contribute to the adoption of a unique identity for an area by linking the products with local culture, and thereby preserving the local “agri-food heritage”. The regional economic structure in North Aegean Region as well as in Cyprus is dominated by the agri-food sector, which is traditionally a sector in which internal research and development expenditure is low and the operational exploitation of scientific tools and research outcomes is limited. In this perspective the documentation of local products authenticity as well as the introduction of innovation elements in the agri-food sector are considered of crucial importance in terms of improving the competitiveness of local SMS’s, addressing the challenges of unfair competition from inferior quality products outside the eligible area and finally protecting and building a trust relationship with the consumers.
Aim of this work was to explore the potential of agri-innovation and local products authentication from the end-users perspective in Cyprus and North Aegean Region, by identifying the challenges and opportunities for SMSs using a bottom up approach.
The study was based on a questionnaire that was developed by the Institute of Applied Biosciences (CERTH) in cooperation with key stakeholders. The questionnaire was available on line during first semester of 2019, and reached 40 SMSs from Cyprus and the Region of North Aegean.
The results of this study reveled that most of the SMSs are of a very small size and operate as continuation of the family tradition. A significant percentage (40%) reaches markets beyond the local area while most important problems are related to the infrastructure and the competition. In terms of authenticity documentation, more than 60% of the SMSs believe that this initiative will have a positive impact mainly by providing an added value to their products and improving their attractiveness.
The operation of SMSs is characterized by the luck of cooperation with other enterprises as well as research centers, although they consider that cooperation and networking activities would have a positive impact on their market status. Thus, there is a missing link between research and the introduction of innovations at operational level. The cooperation with research units is mainly due to the lack of funds, the lack of knowledge regarding the scientific activities of research units and the lack of innovation brokers able to link science and practice in an effective way. Beyond these difficulties, more than 70% of the SMSs believe that such cooperation initiatives will benefit the competitiveness of enterprises in the agri-food sector.
The study was implemented as part of D.3.4.1 of the project “Authenticity identification and competitiveness enhancement of local traditional products of the agrifood sector”, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of INTERREG V-A Greece-Cyprus 2014-2020 Programme.

Entrepreneurial human capital and entrepreneurship are crucial elements for the further development
of rural areas. In order to understand the role of rural enterprises it is essential to learn the characteristics
of successful companies in local economies. The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate through the
introduction of the activity, everyday practice and production procedure how non-agricultural and non-tourism
enterprises can foster the development of rural and peripheral areas in the Visegrad countries. Nine local enterprises
of different size, profile and development pathway were examined in order to highlight main experiences
and lessons being vital for and adaptable in other disadvantaged areas. The results and company descriptions
provided in the article are based on in-depth interviews, online data collection and statistical analyses.