To translate this cooperative vision into a practical, long-term reality, the Living Lab officially merged its initial operational concepts into a single comprehensive initiative: “Trifolia – Fortifying Cooperation”. This project focuses on developing an innovative, cooperative business model and financial roadmap designed to provide structural workload relief for CSA and direct-marketing farms. Instead of every farm struggling in isolation with complex administrative software, bookkeeping preparation, and marketing strategies, Trifolia is being developed as a professionalized, centrally coordinated cooperative service structure. The resulting service catalog is uniquely modular, meaning individual member-farms can choose exactly the administrative services they need without sacrificing their independence.
The Trifolia team is carefully building this framework from the ground up to ensure long-term viability. They are actively researching appropriate cooperative legal setups, establishing clear governance processes, and testing and integrating specialized digital management software like Tapir and CSA Admin. The centralized model is designed to cover three essential pillars: digital member administration, professional public relations and communication to help farms attract new consumers and members, and bundled financial coordination to lower tax advisory costs. Backed by data-driven modeling, the project is working toward full legal establishment by late 2028, with the strategic ambition to secure multiple new participating farms across Brandenburg and break even by 2031. By creating a transferable model for shared administration, Trifolia strengthens the economic viability of CSA and direct-marketing farms, enhances regional food system resilience, and demonstrates how structural cooperation can secure the future of organic and solidarity-based farming.
