On March 20th, the city of Manresa hosted a decisive meeting for the Shared Kitchens Network (XOC), promoted by the Barcelona Provincial Council. This gathering, which brought together representatives from different food processing facilities and small abattoirs, served to assess the progress made last year and define a work plan that will revolutionize food craftsmanship in the province. Organized by the Agrarian Territorial Directorate of the institution with the support of the Manresa City Council and the Lluçanès Consortium, the event provided a space for dialogue and planning for about twenty professionals and experts in the production, handling, and processing of locally produced food.

The main objective of the meeting was to analyze the actions carried out by the XOC during the year 2023 and outline a clear path for 2024. Among the highlighted successes is the creation of a website integrated into the future platform of the BCN Smart Rural program, which will serve as a virtual showcase for public food processing facilities in Barcelona. Additionally, it was agreed to implement a home automation tool already in operation at Quall, the collective cheese dairy of Lluçanès. This application has proven effective in reducing management expenses, optimizing resources available to user companies, and increasing safety in production processes.

This year, the focus of the XOC will be on completing pending investments in the food workshops of the Òdena Basin Agrarian Park and the Lower Tordera Agrarian Space. Collaboration between the nine food processing facilities that are part of the network, including five horticultural, three animal origin (meat and dairy), and one cereal workshop, will also be strengthened. To achieve this, the hiring of two specialized technicians is planned to provide advice tailored to the productive typology of each facility. Likewise, a joint communication plan will be designed and developed to promote the services available at each workshop and attract new food craftsmanship projects.

The budget for 2024 includes an investment of €75,000 in infrastructure and €40,000 in dynamization services, fully financed by the Barcelona Provincial Council. As the main promoter of the XOC within the BCN Smart Rural program, the corporation provides economic, logistical, and technical support to spaces that are crucial to advancing towards a safer, healthier, and more sustainable agri-food model in the province.

Looking towards the future, the XOC also aims to create distribution zones within the food workshops, thus improving the logistics of product distribution to the local network of suppliers and sales points. This initiative aims to establish an integrated process of production, transformation, distribution, and consumption, aligned with the principles of sustainability, proximity, and food safety promoted by the BCN Smart Rural program.

For more information about the Shared Kitchens Network promoted by the Barcelona Provincial Council, please contact Sònia Callau, head of the Agrarian Territorial Directorate of the corporation and coordinator of BCN Smart Rural.

— BCN Smart Rural Team —