Public procurement of food and groceries

When procuring food and food, it is necessary to take into account the Decree on Green Public Procurement, which defines the share of organic food, and the Public Procurement Act (the amended Article 14 of which entered into force in 2013). There are examples of good practice in supporting contractors and connecting them with tenderers. Regional conferences for the development of short supply chains and local self-sufficiency, the publication of recommendations for public procurement of food and food and other activities have already contributed to progress in better and more effective implementation of the possibilities provided by the Public Procurement Act.

As an example of green practices in agriculture, we could cite the growing emphasis in the context of public procurement of food and food of local production. According to the latest data, the share of local food and groceries in the total amount of food purchased in public institutions amounts to 38.7%, while before the amendment of Article 14 of the Public Procurement Act it amounted to 30.1%. Also, in relation to the total quantity of ordered food and foodstuffs, the share of organic food in institutions increased by 6.6%. It amounted to 6.4% before the amendment of the legislation and 13.0% after its amendment. The share of organic food and foodstuffs of Slovenian origin from the total quantity of ordered organic food and foodstuffs increased by 7.5%. It amounted to 16.4% before the amendment of the legislation and 23.9% after its amendment.

The results of a survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food in October 2014 among 288 public educational institutions show that 78% of primary schools and kindergartens attach great importance to local food when ordering food and strive for it as much as possible. higher share. 85% of them answered that they carry out their own market research before the implementation of the public procurement.

An important challenge in the field of public procurement of food and food remains the establishment of a simplified and more efficient system that takes into account short chains and the principles of green public procurement, tailored to individual contracting authorities (educational institutions, hospitals, social welfare institutions, etc.).

BD