The Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform on SME Competitiveness published an interesting Policy Brief on Regional Branding for SME Success in September 2021. The Policy Brief has links to FRIDGE project as two Good Practices identified in FRIDGE project were included in the paper.

Summary of the Policy Brief

The policy brief covers topics such as regional identity, product quality labels, cooperation between SMEs in rural areas, agritourism and co-creation for promoting cultural heritage. It is based on the knowledge generated by the Interreg Europe community and looks into relevant EU policies, support instruments, programmes and good practices.

It describes the link between SME competitiveness and regional branding and features a number of policy recommendations using the experience of Interreg Europe projects to inspire policymakers to develop regional branding for their local development strategies.

FRiDGE Good Practices present in the Policy Brief

The topic has been raised also among FRIDGE project and partners have exchanged experiences on how Food SMEs can take advantage of regional branding, regional food brands as well as utilise the EU Quality labels for food, drink and agricultural products.

Two of the Good Practices identified in the FRIDGE project were also included in the Policy Brief:

  1. Tasteful East-Flanders: Promotion of local gastronomy
  2. Food Province Label of South Ostrobothnia

We also suggest to read our thematic articles on the utilization of EU quality labels and regional food brands among FRIDGE regions.

  1. EU Quality labels in FRIDGE Regions
  2. Regional Food Quality Labels in FRIDGE Regions, Part 1
  3. Regional Food Quality Labels in FRIDGE Regions, Part 2
  4. Regional Food Quality Labels in FRIDGE Regions, Part 3