20 local producers, representatives of associations involved in the marketing and promotion of local food and collaborators of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of spatial planning, took part in a fact-finding trip on Friday the 3rd of June, following an invitation from the PRO-SUD syndicate of municipalities. The aim of the trip to Aubry was to get to know the structure “Les grands prés“, set up by local producers who have joined forces to jointly run a shop where they can sell their local products on their own.

Promoting the production and sale of local food is one of the medium and long-term goals of the Minett UNESCO Biosphere. By promoting local food production, emissions of climate-damaging gases can be reduced, helping to better protect biodiversity in Luxembourg’s only biosphere reserve and beyond.

From Foetz, the group set off for Aubry, where a visit to the producers’ shop took place in the morning. Nicolas Schmit, one of the five producers running the shop with local products, explained the concept of the business to the producers of the Minett UNESCO Biosphere and the neighbouring communities. He also explained the set-up and operations of the structure and gave the guests an insight into the difficulties and challenges that had to be overcome in implementing their idea.

After the visit to the producers’ shop, they went on to the farm of one of the producers, where local products from their own cultivation were served for lunch. Afterwards, the visitors from the Grand Duchy got a further insight into the structure of the French producers in a workshop and finally visited the farm.

The idea of this seminar with local producers who already operate a functioning structure for selling their products had arisen at the first meeting of local producers of the Minett UNESCO Biosphere, organised by the PRO-SUD syndicate of municipalities mid-March in Bascharage. In the coming weeks, the Minett UNESCO Biosphere team will continue to work on the concrete implementation of the idea to set up one or more shops selling local products in the area of the biosphere reserve.

Furthermore, preparations for “Au Goût du Terroir” are also in full swing. From the 30th of September to the 2nd of October, more than 80 local exhibitors will present and sell their local products in Bascharage. This Esch2022 event will be accompanied by a large number of workshops and other activities.