We believe in a future where everyone can earn a fair income from food production and trade. In a way that makes varied, sustainably produced food accessible to all, reaching consumers with the lowest footprint. We design food systems in unexplored areas with big potential for new supply chains for food and other perishable products. Our projects create a sustainable impulse for local development, food supply and international trade.

We see intelligent logistics as the key to unlock the hidden economic potential of emerging food producing and consuming economies in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We focus on valuable, perishable products in which the Netherlands has traditionally been a strong presence: fruit and vegetables, flowers, medicines, meat and fish, meat substitutes and dairy products. These products require specialist know-how, and therefore offer opportunities for Dutch companies from the agro-food, logistics and water sectors.

Flying Swans sees opportunities for agro-logistic project development in emerging countries; especially in Africa, where production areas are often far from export ports. Large distances are now covered via truck or plane. In many regions the basic infrastructure has already been improved in recent years, often with Chinese billion-dollar investments. Ports, rail networks and motorways open up domestic areas. Yet this is not enough to ‘unlock’ agro-logistic value chains. Basic infrastructure alone does not create logistics.

Flying Swans stands for a planned reconfiguration of agro-logistics by scaling up and integration into the basic infrastructure with open, multi-user solutions. Transport transitions to refrigerated containers via train, with hinterland consolidation also serving emerging farmers with smaller volumes. This results in supply chains that are so efficient that they can easily withstand global competition.

Flying Swans opts for agro-logistics based on valuable products that can support the investments made in infrastructure. A container of avocados costs at least 50,000 euros, a container of macadamia nuts double that, a shipment of vaccines even more. Such high-value perishables can help the logistic chain take off, after which commodities with lower market values can also benefit. Other initiatives often focus on the beginning or the end: support of farming or certification in the end market. We opt for a clear focus on the middle of the value chain, because that is where the bottleneck in emerging countries is: logistics connecting products to markets. Three quarters of the costs are incurred mid-stream.

Flying Swans uses a combination of strategies to create value. Where logistics solutions are lacking, we create an offer that opens up the market. Where there is road transport, truck-to-rail optimisation offers value by improving transport efficiency and reducing losses. Moreover, there is a strong value-creation profile in a shift from air to sea transport. All the projects we develop have a solid business case. At the same time, there are public values: growth in employment, environmental benefits and forex generation. Taken together, our projects always result in substantial impact: products reach markets in high quality, at 30 to 50 percent lower costs and with 70 to 90 percent fewer emissions.