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The Hamburg Senate has decided to establish another business cluster. With the new Food Cluster, the players in the food industry are to be connected optimally.  With 123,000 employees and around 4,500 companies, the food industry occupies an important place in the business location of the Hamburg metropolitan region. The aim of the cluster is to provide targeted support for the food industry and to accompany them more intensively in their development towards sustainable nutrition.

The cluster will be managed by the newly founded Food Cluster Hamburg GmbH, 51 percent of which will remain in municipal hands. The growth initiative Süderelbe AG will hold 5 percent of the company's shares, which from the outset also highlights the regional orientation of the new cluster. 44 percent are held by foodactive e. V., which acts as a supporting association and completes the new cluster with its members from the business community.

© foodactive:  Karl-Heinz Krämer (foodactive e.V.), Dr. Melanie Leonhard (Senator for Economics and Innovation) and Dr. Olaf Krüger (Süderelbe AG)
© foodactive: Karl-Heinz Krämer (foodactive e.V.), Dr. Melanie Leonhard (Senator for Economics and Innovation) and Dr. Olaf Krüger (Süderelbe AG)

Goals and strategic orientation of the food cluster

  • Affordable and enjoyable food for all is the focus of the efforts.

  • Circular economy and the development of sustainable packaging are actively addressed.

  • A broad understanding of a healthy lifestyle is created through nutrition education.

  • Through process optimization and innovative production methods, production is becoming increasingly and more sustainable and climate-neutral.

  • Wholesale and retail trade are among the city's strengths. This creates jobs, secures access to raw materials for production and provides ways for exporting Hamburg products.

  • The products and services produced in Hamburg stand for the high level of competence "Made in Hamburg".

  • Hamburg's food industry is broadly based. Production, handicraft, trade, logistics are its pillars with the gastronomy as a customer.

  • Positioning Hamburg as a leading European region in terms of its competitiveness and innovative capacity in the food industry.

  • Establishing a culture of cooperation that increases innovation output, facilitates business foundings and stimulates knowledge transfer.

  • Sustainable further development and securing of competencies in areas that are important for the Hamburg food industry.

  • Establishment of optimal framework conditions to ensure the long-term competitiveness of the food industry at the location.

  • Establishment of efficient and sustainable cluster structures by integrating existing initiatives.

© Authority for Economics and Innovation: Dr. Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economics and Innovation
“Hamburg is now getting a food cluster that will further bundle and expand the strengths of the players in our city. With the cluster, we will make even better use of the opportunities that lie in the transformation of the food industry. The food industry in Hamburg has always been broadly positioned. We cover a wide range from industrial production, crafts, trade, logistics and gastronomy. In addition to the large global food companies, we also have established small and medium-sized companies as well as numerous startups working on supply and food innovations. I am therefore very pleased that we are now working together with established partners and also new companies to develop Hamburg into a European anchor point for the food industry.”
Dr. Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economics and Innovation

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