Proxterra Hub: a digital platform to optimise agri-food trade between Catalonia and the French Pyrenees

The European PROXTERRA project, of which Prodeca is a partner, is launching Proxterra Hub, a digital platform designed to optimise the exchange of agri-food products between Catalonia and the French territories of the Pyrenees. This innovative tool makes it possible to better coordinate logistics flows, secure commercial exchanges and strengthen cross-border short supply chains.

Unlike a conventional marketplace, Proxterra Hub is a logistics coordination tool for structuring short supply chains in the Pyrenees and promoting more sustainable agri-food distribution models. The platform thus contributes to a cross-border approach based on proximity, fair distribution and access to local products.

The initiative, led by the public company for the promotion of Catalan agri-food products Prodeca, with the support of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Government of Catalonia, drives cooperation between key players in the sector. On the Catalan side, the platform is coordinated by the shared short-supply-chain distribution networks SOM EBRE – L'Enllaç de l'Ebre, Terra Pagesa, La diligència and BioPonent, and on the French side by the local produce distribution platforms Terroirs Ariège Pyrénées and Le Local.

A platform built on good practice

Proxterra Hub is based on several principles of collaboration: transparency of costs and logistics conditions, ecological traceability of products, real-time digital management of incidents, adjustment of volumes and prices according to the market, and respect for payment deadlines.

The platform works through the joint work of regional coordinators, responsible for gathering supply and demand forecasts, negotiating competitive and balanced catalogues between regions and planning grouped purchases.

Proxterra Hub makes it possible to estimate transport costs, measure logistics efficiency and propose order adjustments.The regional coordinators liaise with producers on the basis of the forecasts received. On that basis, producers and distribution networks can negotiate prices, volumes and delivery conditions.

Strong potential for exchange on both sides of the Pyrenees

An initial analysis, carried out before the platform was designed, revealed strong potential for exchange on both sides of the Pyrenees. At present Catalonia exports more agri-food products to France, but there are development opportunities in both directions.

Catalonia has expressed the possibility of importing French products such as potatoes and opening new channels for wines and cheeses, while France has shown interest in Catalan products such as citrus fruits and products with PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status.

Next steps

In the short term, the project plans to extend the platform to new networks, integrate a CO₂ emissions calculation module and organise a cross-border event to present the tool, speed up meetings between producers and bring new cooperation opportunities to light. Proxterra Hub marks a decisive step towards more sustainable, more efficient and better connected agri-food distribution on both sides of the Pyrenees.

«Proxterra Hub provides a concrete response to the challenges of structuring cross-border short supply chains. This platform makes it possible to better connect producers and distributors, while encouraging more sustainable exchanges across the Pyrenees.»Ariadna Miret, head of European Projects at Prodeca.

The PROXTERRA project has been 65% co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Spain-France-Andorra Programme (POCTEFA 2021-2027). POCTEFA aims to strengthen the economic and social integration of the Spain-France-Andorra border area.

PROXTERRA aims to strengthen the sustainable growth and competitiveness of SMEs in the agri-food sector, supporting and promoting sustainable production, fair distribution and local consumption of agri-food products from the Pyrenees.

The project brings together a French and Spanish partnership made up of, on the Catalan side, Creacció (Osona Agency for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Knowledge), Prodeca and the BETA Technology Centre (University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia) and, on the French side, the Occitanie and Pyrénées-Orientales Chambers of Commerce, the Chambers of Agriculture of Ariège and Pyrénées-Orientales, and the University of Pau and the Adour Region (UPPA-IPREM).