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EESTI ELU reedel, 12. veebruaril 2021 — Friday, February 12, 2021
Nr. 6
Direct from Producer to Consumer Food Networks in Estonia Interview by Vincent Teetsov If in your travels you ever make your way across the Suur väin (“Suur Strait”) on the ferry from Virtsu to Muhu, and then drive to Saaremaa (Saare county), you will likely make at least a short stop in Kuressaare. In the summer months, Saare maa’s biggest town is buzzing with tourists, appreciating the local crafts and food. But this appreciation for local pro ducts, particularly food, is part of local life, not just for those passing through. 18 years ago, two Toron tonians, Karen and Alar Allas, moved to Saaremaa. For 12 years, they’ve worked with local small-scale farmers and artisan producers, to create their marketing materials and orga nize special food events. During two or three summer trips to Saaremaa, I’ve had the chance to get to know Karen and Alar, but now was a chance to learn from them about the many different producers that make up Otse Tootjalt Tarbijani (Direct from Producer to Consumer) food networks. How common is it for Estonians to buy their food directly from producers, as opposed to a grocery store? In Saaremaa, almost every one has a connection to some local farm that supplies them with some food products. A relative, friend or neighbour is bound to have a vegetable garden or apple orchard with a little extra to sell or give away. So direct producer to consumer food sales are not new in Saaremaa. What is new, though, are producer networks that
a dvertise their products together, cooperation among farmers in cross marketing and online shops. I would say that the majority of people buy some products directly but most products from the large super markets. What was the impetus for the formation of Saare OTT? The first OTT (Otse Tootjalt Tarbijani) network started in Estonia in 2009, where a group of about 10 farmers in Kuusalu (50 km east of Tallinn), started coming together once a week for one hour in a music school parking lot, where they sold straight from their vehicles. A good portion of the sales were pre-ordered and pre-paid. Kuu salu OTT still operates to this day. There are about 25 OTTs now across Estonia, each operating in its own way – some as weekly pop-up farmers markets, others as virtual marketplaces. These are not to be confused with usual market places in cities, where a lot of the produce is imported and there are all kinds of other non-edible stuff for sale. How many producers does Saare OTT consist of? Saare OTT is a group of over 50 small-scale farmers and artisan food producers in Saare maa, selling vegetables, fruits, honey, meat, smoked fish, beer, preserves, baked goods and more. Their contact information can be found in the online cata logue found at saareott.ee. The catalogue is not an online shop. Orders are placed by consumers to each producer separately and delivery is negotiated on an in dividual basis. Has Direct from Producer to Consumer food commerce
Press release
NGO HomeComing invites you to an Estonian language and culture immersion camp! HomeComing (Lõimeleer) is a summer camp that connects young Estonians living abroad and their families as well as multicultural families living in Estonia with Estonian life and culture. In our camps you can socialise with your peers from
Estonia, learn Estonian handi crafts and traditional songs, dances, games and to play instruments. You can join horse cart and dugout canoe rides or go berry picking in the bog. Moreover, you can go on a
experienced an uptick due to COVID-19, considering peo ple are nervous about shop ping in stores? During the first Covid wave in the spring, a lot of people were nervous about shopping in public and food businesses evolved to meet the new circumstances. But this didn’t mean a boom for small farmers, because the big supermarkets were also offering contact free home delivery service. Most of the big supermarkets already had online shops. For the small producers, it was a kick start to create the online shops, which many of them did. The pro ducers that quickly adjusted saw an uptick in direct orders. But not everyone had the skills to make changes so fast. Producers that were most negatively affected by Covid were those who supplied restau rants. Producers were also negatively affected by the can cellation of many major events that brought people to the island in the summer, such as Kuressaare Opera Days and Kuressaare Castle Days. What are the biggest obsta cles to people purchasing food this way? There are, as we all know, a lot of benefits to buying local products direct from the farmer or artisan producer: an ecologi cally smaller footprint, getting to know the people behind the food, getting the freshest and most flavourful food and more. The main obstacles are con venience and price. It is more convenient for people to get everything they need from one place. In terms of price, many people are surprised that they
ghost hunt at night, visit black sauna or join a laughter work shop. We do everything in Estonian and in the Estonian way, but at the same time en sure that nobody’s excluded due to insufficient language skills. The program varies from year to year. In 2020, for example, we organised a traditional Estonian camp wedding. In 2021, we plan to introduce the laughter of Estonians and other people around the world in our laughter workshop. We have been organising language and culture immersion camps in cooperation with the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy since 2016. The camp teachers are mainly youth work students and alumni from the Viljandi Culture Academy and other Estonian universities who are responsible for carrying out the daily activi ties, including introducing the national foods, skills, dances and games. In addition, we en gage experts with the skills in traditional handicrafts, storytelling etc., with the kids in addition to introducing national
Local producers selling at the annual Saaremaa Farm to Table event. Photo used with permission from Karen and Alar Allas
don’t spend less money buying direct from the farmer versus a supermarket. Consumers would like to see a situation where more profit stays in the hands of the farmer and the consumer gets a discount, too, but that is not usually the case for many reasons. The scale of produc tion is small, which is more costly. The farming is mostly organic, which is also more costly and the artisan products such jams and breads are made by hand in small batches, out of high-quality ingredients, with out cutting corners (preserva tives, thickening agents etc.) Adding to the price, the farmer has to factor in the price of renting a stall if they are selling in a marketplace or registration fee if they are selling at festivals, which can be quite expensive. What do you think is the future of this style of com merce for a region like south ern Ontario? Everyone has to find ways to keep the final cost down and convenience level high. There is no rubber stamp that fits all places. The OTT networks in Estonia keep the cost down by finding parking lots they can use for an hour or two a week
for free for their pop-up markets. Cooperation between farmers for cross advertising also keeps costs down. Many producers now have their own online shops, where purchases can be made using international online bank transfer or a bank transfer from an account in Estonia. These producers offer delivery on a regular basis anywhere in Estonia. If you live in Canada or the U.S., you can buy directly from producers online in Saaremaa (saareott.ee) using the two methods above and have the products delivered to your relatives and friends anywhere in Estonia as gifts for any occa sion. For example Muhu Liha (muhuliha.ee) has a variety of gift packs in collaboration with other local producers. One of fering is smoked leg of lamb, Muhu beer and mint jelly. If you can’t find a product you would like to order from a pro ducer in Saaremaa, then one can go to the Ehtne Talutoit website at talutoit.ee and select the button “TURG”. There you will find a larger selection of producers on the mainland selling directly to the consumer.
foods, skills, dances and games. Through social and cultural activities inside and outside in the beautiful nature, the camps of the NGO HomeComing contribute to improved Estonia skills and stronger ties with Estonia for the youth from the Estonian diaspora and multicul tural families in Estonia. There will be no formal language learning in a classroom setting. Our camp’s working language is Estonian, but we are more than happy to provide explana tions in English, to make sure everyone is included. Within the five years existence, we have had participants from the USA, Canada, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Finland, Ireland, Great Britain, New Zealand, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Norway and, of course, Estonia itself. Many children return year after year to meet old friends and teachers. The recommended age for participants is 10–16. As an ex tension of the children camp, Family Lõimeleer offers an opportunity for children younger than 10 years and their parents to take part in the camp. The
younger children can partake in the activities of the teenagers’ camp, practice their Estonian and, by support from their parents, gather experience and courage for attending the camp unaccompanied in the longer run.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
In 2021, the camp will be held in three 6-day shifts: 11– 17 July, 18–24 July and 25–31 July. For further information and to sign up for the camp, visit https://en.loimeleer.com/ or e-mail mtu.loimeleer@gmail. com. NB! Register before 1 March to get the early bird discount! NB! NB! Important informa tion regarding the COVID-19 situation! If you have re gistered, but are unable to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions, please notify us before 15 June 2021 and we will postpone your unused ticket and guarantee you a spot in the 2022 summer camp.
