Digitising Local Food Markets – Illusion or Breakthrough?

COREnet European Roadshow in Kraków

The COREnet European Roadshow organised in Kraków (13-14 May 2026) posed a deceptively simple question: can digitalisation really help scale local food markets, or is it just another technological illusion? 

The answer is that this is not the right question as scaling local food systems based on short food chain solutions is not primarily a technological issue. It is about how local food systems actually function — and why so many promising initiatives remain small despite increasing interest in local food.

Across presentations and debates, a clear and consistent message emerged: the core challenge is not lack of production or demand, but the difficulty of coordinating a system made up of many small, dispersed actors. Poland provides a striking example, with a large number of farms but only limited participation in short food supply chains (SFSCs), pointing to structural and organisational barriers rather than economic constraints.

Why local food systems struggle to scale

Digital tools have already made it easier for farmers to reach customers. Social media, online marketplaces, and communication platforms have reduced barriers to entry and made local food more visible than ever before. Yet this has not translated into systems capable of operating at scale. Why?

The reason lies in what happens after a sale is made. As participants noted, “for farmers it is now not so hard to sell; the hard part is delivering.” The challenge is not access to markets, but the complexity of organising deliveries, coordinating supply, and managing transactions across multiple producers and consumers. What appears simple at small scale becomes increasingly difficult as the system grows involving more farmers, more customers and more transactions.

More digital tools, but not a better system

A key insight from the CODECS project was the distinction between digitisation and digitalisation. Digitisation focuses on transferring existing processes into digital form—selling online, issuing invoices electronically, communicating through apps. These improvements are real and valuable. However, they do not change the underlying structure of the system.

Digitalisation, in contrast, is about reorganising how the system itself works — how actors interact, how information flows, and how logistics are coordinated. As one contribution captured, “if the focus remains on digitisation… we get more data, more apps, but the scaling problems are still not solved.”  

This distinction explains why so many digital initiatives in local food systems fail to deliver transformative impact. They improve individual processes without addressing the systemic constraints that prevent scaling.

The central concept that emerged is the absence of a shared coordination layer. Local food systems are currently organised around individual actions. Farmers manage their own sales and deliveries, consumers navigate fragmented supply, and logistics are handled in an ad hoc and often inefficient way.

As digital tools expand market access, they also shift responsibilities. Farmers increasingly take on roles previously performed by intermediaries, including logistics and customer management, without the infrastructure or compensation to support these functions. The result is not greater efficiency, but increased workload and limited scalability.

This imbalance reflects a system that has been partially digitised but not fully reorganised.

Rethinking logistics: a problem of information and coordination

One of the most thought-provoking ideas presented during the day challenged the common assumption that logistics itself is the primary bottleneck. Instead, the problem was reframed as one of “governed information flow.” 

This perspective suggests that logistical inefficiencies are symptoms of deeper coordination failures. When information about supply, demand, and delivery is fragmented or delayed, it becomes difficult to align actions across actors. The system lacks real-time visibility, shared decision-making, and mechanisms for collective coordination.

From this standpoint, digitalisation should not be seen as a tool for optimisation alone, but as a way to create the conditions for coordinated action across distributed systems. Case studies presented in Kraków, such as the Village E-box initiative, demonstrated that successful local food systems are built on more than technology. They rely on collective organisation, shared infrastructure, and sustained institutional support. Digital tools are part of the solution, but they are effective only when embedded within these broader structures.

These examples also highlighted the importance of experimentation and adaptation. Systems evolve over time through trial and error, rather than being fully designed in advance. This reinforces the idea that scaling SFSCs is not about implementing a fixed model, but about developing adaptive, coordinated systems with a learning capability.

Digitalisation becomes a technological illusion when it focuses narrowly on tools and platforms, adding complexity without addressing underlying coordination challenges. In such cases, it risks increasing the burden on farmers and failing to deliver meaningful change.

At the same time, digitalisation is an essential step when it enables new forms of coordination — when it supports the organisation of logistics, facilitates real-time information sharing, and strengthens collaboration across actors. In this sense, digitalisation is not a standalone solution, but a critical enabler of system transformation.

Moving forward: from tools to systems

The way forward requires shifting attention from technology to system design. The priority is to develop coordination infrastructure that connects producers, consumers, and logistics in a coherent way. This includes treating distribution as shared infrastructure rather than an individual burden or something that has to be provided externally, supporting organisational forms that enable collective action, and ensuring that digital systems are accessible, low-effort, and aligned with real practices.

It also requires a stronger role for public institutions and advisory systems, not only as providers of knowledge or funding, but as facilitators of coordination and builders of system-level solutions. SFSCs are not simply markets — they are complex socio-technical systems that require long-term support and governance.

The COREnet European Roadshow in Kraków provides more than a diagnosis. It offers a framework for understanding why local food systems struggle to scale and what is needed to address this challenge. The full report and presentations explore these issues in greater depth, including the application of the CODECS framework, detailed case studies, and emerging models of coordination.

For anyone working on digitalisation, local food markets, or sustainable food systems, these materials provide both insight and practical direction.

• Download the report on Digitising Local Food markets HERE.

• You can download the presentations HERE.

Digitalisation alone will not transform local food systems. What matters is how digital tools are integrated into systems that combine organisation, infrastructure, and trust. The future of local food markets depends not on the proliferation of new apps, but on the ability to build coordinated systems that work across scales.

Digitalisation is neither a simple solution nor an illusion. It is a powerful tool — one that becomes meaningful only when used to address the deeper challenge of coordination.