KEKRI

11.02.2026 | In Progress Carbon Action Regenerative Agriculture

Carbon Action, regenerative agriculture

Sustainable food procurement through research, development and innovation collaboration

The aim of the KEKRI project is to lower the threshold for regenerative and organic producers to participate in public procurement, thereby supporting their market access and growth.

Official name

KEKRI – Sustainable food procurement through RDI collaboration

Duration

2026–2027

Persons in charge

Alina Nikula

Organisation

Elävä Itämeri säätiö sr, Forum Virium Helsinki Oy ja Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu Oy

Funder

Euroopan aluekehitysrahasto (EAKR), Uudistuva ja osaava Suomi 2021–2027, EU:n alue- ja rakennepolitiikan ohjelma

Sustainable food production for a resilient future

Finland’s food security and competitiveness depend on sustainable food production that both mitigates climate change and adapts to it. Organic production and regenerative agriculture play a key role in achieving this. The aim of the KEKRI project is to lower the threshold for regenerative and organic producers to participate in public procurement, thereby supporting their market access and growth.

The project advances this goal by developing innovative procurement methods, strengthening cooperation among research, development and innovation (RDI) actors, and supporting regional procurement collaboration. It also promotes the integration of regenerative agriculture into public procurement criteria.

The project also strengthens stakeholders’ capacity to create added value through organic production, responsible practices and value chain innovations. As a result, the project delivers concrete tools to advance a more sustainable food system while supporting the climate and procurement objectives of cities and municipalities.

Collaborating to develop procurement criteria for regenerative agriculture

One of the key challenges identified is the relative novelty of regenerative agriculture definitions and the lack of certification schemes, which makes it difficult for the market to recognise its potential alongside organic production. The project addresses this by co-developing procurement criteria for regenerative agriculture for public procurement in collaboration with key stakeholders.

Within the KEKRI project, BSAG acts as a co-implementer and expert in sustainable production. BSAG is responsible for developing procurement criteria for regenerative food production. This work includes extensive background research and data collection. In addition, workshops are organised to enable key stakeholders to participate in the co-creation of the procurement criteria. The drafted criteria will be circulated to key stakeholders for feedback, after which the possibilities for piloting them within a public procurement organisation will be explored. The aim is to publish the criteria in an open, public criteria database.

The aim is to establish criteria that strengthen the sustainability of public procurement and improve the availability of regenerative agriculture products in public food and catering procurement.