In 1997, Hans Verhoeven and Mark van den Eijnden founded the Sustainable Supply Chain for Pork: KDV (Keten Duurzaam Varkensvlees). The focus of the foundation was to secure a sustainable pork production and the innovation was driven by the pig farmers as well as the wishes of the Dutch consumers.

Innovation – How?

From the beginning, the innovation has been driven by two main pillars. Firstly, the pig farmers themselves wished to change their practices. They wanted to do things differently and move away from conventional production. Secondly, the innovation was also consumer driven. The Dutch consumers are quite critical of the way in which their food is produced.

Communication Is Everything

The entrepreneurs, Hans Verhoeven and Mark van den Eijnden, noticed that communication between separate links within the supply chain was minimal. They felt that this needed to change in order to promote pork differently on the market so they brought together multiple parties throughout the entire supply chain such as pig farmers, butchers, grocers, retailers, the hospitality industry and meat processors. This enabled them to move away from the bulk-based supply chains.

The Supply Chain Is Unique

The way the parties in the supply chain work together to produce, create and bring a new product to the market is unique. It is quite extraordinary for multiple pig farmers to work together with other links downstream in the supply chain in a competitive market with small margins. The system was copied from the dairy company Royal Friesland Campina (RFC) and adjusted to the pig farmers’ needs and specificities. Where RFC is a very large cooperative, KDV is a foundation. This legal status does make a difference.

From time to time, establishing the supply chain has also been challenging. Talking with upstream and downstream parties within the supply chain was at times hard and old relationships sometimes made working together a challenge. Upscaling their project was also a challenge.

Still Going Strong

Despite the challenges, KDV is still going strong. It is a nationwide program and a total of about 175 Dutch pig farmers have joined the program since the beginning.

Who got involved?

Several stakeholders assisted in the innovation process such as LIB (Innovation Broker), Kewi services (fodder producer) and WUR (Wageningen University and Research Centre). WUR provided qualitative and quantitative research. LIB supported the project financially, which made it all the more feasible.

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