The project “TAPROOM: Training in the Production and Marketing of Organic and Craft Beer” aims to develop a multidisciplinary, interactive & comprehensive b-learning training course in the production and marketing of organic and craft-beer making. It seeks to promote beer as part of the art and intangible cultural heritage of the EU. All of this is linked to the EU organic products market that has been experiencing a strong growth in demand and production over the last 10 years.
Such great demand for Organic and Craft Beers (OCBs) has raised the necessity for the existence of this type of training course; one that’s fully dedicated to beer and organic farming, targeting the interest of entrepreneurs that are seeking to tap into this market segment and would like to overcome any knowledge gaps in this regard.
Thus, it is important for industry professionals (craft beer producers, breweries, farmer entrepreneurs) to have the key skills and competences needed to match and address these challenges. It is a question of perceiving organic brewing and craft beers not only from a technical point of view, but also with regards to the given territory and heritage, and the producers’ relationship with their customers.
The TAPROOM proposal offers an innovative vocational training process to support the development of OCB in Europe, integrating into a common curriculum all aspects of the development of organic production (farming techniques, production methods, marketing, communication, ethics & social responsibility, as well as bridging with art and cultural heritage).
The main outputs of the project are: a TAPROOM learning Model; a TAPROOM Training course; a TAPROOM Manual for trainers; a Platform with an Interactive repository section; a TAPROOM Guidebook on certification of organic & craft beer production & marketing.
The aim of the project is to enhance the competitiveness of European breweries and craft beer makers through development of their potential for the production and promotion of organic and craft beers. The project therefore seeks to:
-Develop a course dedicated to organic and craft beer production for professionals and future professionals, complementing the training offered in agricultural and agronomic education.
-Develop specific knowledge and competences in EU beer makers to produce and promote organic and craft techniques.
-Meet the needs of the breweries and craft-beer-makers for specific and tailored-made training on production.
-Support beer makers to enter the organic and craft beer market and boost their growth potential.
-Encourage the application of organic farming and production approaches.
-Promote the use of sustainable agricultural methods
-Facilitate cooperation and technical transfers among European countries and European stakeholders;
-Remind & develop awareness on the fact that beer is part of the cultural, gastronomic and landscape heritage of the country.
The TAPROOM project will be implemented by 5 partners from Malta (Malta Business Foundation), Belgium (Out of the Box International), Italy (GAL Molise Verso il 2000), Bulgaria (AVA Creations Foundation) and Germany (Italienische Handelskammer München-Stuttgart Camera di Commercio Italo-Tedesca).
The project is co-financed by the Erasmus+ KA2 Programme of the European Commission