On 27 July 2022, Birgit Honé, Minister for Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development, made a stop on her summer tour in the town of Osterholz-Scharmbeck and visited the Regional Genussdepot, which is supported by the “Zukunftsräume Niedersachsen” funding program. In the Regional Genussdepot, businesses from the region can offer their products at self-determined prices and every citizen has the opportunity to pick up their individual purchases flexibly from the specially created pick-up station – refrigerated or non-refrigerated.
Under the motto “Order in the region – pick up at Haus am Markt!”, the Regional Genussdepot has made a contribution to healthy food at fair prices without having to travel any further, strengthening the Osterholz-Scharmbeck location and establishing another offer in the “Haus am Markt” shopping center at the same time. For regional producers, weekly market vendors and interested small producers, the Regional Food Depot has created a further sales channel and at the same time filled a vacancy in the center of Osterholz-Scharmbeck.
The funds for this project come from the “Future Spaces Lower Saxony” funding program, which is explicitly aimed at small and medium-sized towns in Lower Saxony as well as municipalities and joint municipalities in rural areas with a population of 10,000 or more in which a basic or medium-sized center has been established. These centers assume important supply functions for their surrounding areas – for example in the areas of medical care, retail or culture – and act as key drivers of regional development. Since the start of the project in 2019, 85 projects with a total volume of 16.4 million euros have been funded through the guideline.
In the current application round, 27 new projects were included in the program. The Regional Genussdepot in the “Haus am Markt” shopping center was officially opened on 24 June 2022. Since then, goods ordered online in advance can be picked up there every day, regardless of the time of day or night. Birgit Honé, Minister for Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development, also took advantage of this opportunity and ordered goods online in advance from Hanover and had them delivered to the Regional Genussdepot. The purchase went flawlessly and Ms. Honé emphasized that the Regional Genussdepot is a project with a lighthouse character. Ms. Honé is certain that the Regional Genussdepot in Osterholz-Scharmbeck will combine special features of the region and become a role model throughout Lower Saxony, encouraging many imitators. You can get a detailed impression of the Regional Genussdepot at www.deinohz.de.
aconium GmbH supported the town of Osterholz-Scharmbeck with the entire project development and application process for the “Zukunftsräume Niedersachsen” funding program. In the current project, aconium GmbH is also responsible for the marketing concept, which includes the design of a word/figurative mark, the creation of effective advertising materials and the organization and implementation of events.
