Bavaria has adopted a series of measures to respond to the emergency situation caused by Covid-19, aimed in particular at addressing shortages of liquidity and seasonal workers, as well as to support food companies in maintaining their businesses.
Programmes to address liquidity shortage
Bavaria has launched an emergency aid programme for different kind of businesses, including companies in agriculture, horticulture and other sectors of primary production which are threatened in their existence by the current crisis. This aid aims at granting instant support for businesses facing liquidity shortage through subsidies that do not have to be repaid. The maximum amount of the grant is established according to the number of employees:
- up to 5 employees 9 000 €
- up to 10 employees 15 000 €
- up to 50 employees 30 000 €
- up to 250 employees 50 000 €
This programme has been created in coordination with a federal emergency aid programme and is a combination of federal and regional funds, enabling higher payments for all covered company sizes. Small businesses (up to 10 employees) are subsidized by federal fund, the others by Bavarian fund.
Furthermore, the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, with the support of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, is offering liquidity protection loans combined with a guarantee. The programme is aimed at companies in agriculture, including viticulture and horticulture, forestry, fishing and aquaculture, who are suffering from the consequences of the pandemic and do not have sufficient security. The loans are guaranteed to 90% for small and medium-sized companies and 80% for large companies.
Campaign “Working for the harvest”
In order to address the shortage of seasonal workers for the harvest, Bavarian Minister of Agriculture launched the campaign “Working for the harvest” (Arbeiten für die Ernte) asking to everyone who wants to help and is willing to work in agriculture (e.g. students, people with short-time compensation) to register on the available platforms (DasLandhilft.de or Saisonarbeit-in-Deutschland.de).
Lokal-Helden
Lokal-Helden (Local heroes) is a platform conceived for the promotion of Bavarian gastronomy, launched by the Bavarian Gourmet Academy of the Competence Centre for Nutrition, in collaboration with the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation and the Bavarian Hotel and Restaurant Association.
This platform gathers together all the gastronomic offers in Bavaria with the aim to support companies in the food sector in selling their products through take away and/or delivery service. This instrument help to maintain food businesses despite the current restrictions and gives consumers the possibility to enjoy regional gastronomy at home.
On the website, all the offers are shown in a map, including contact details and the description of the restaurant. Search results can be filtered by categories such as regional or international cuisine or breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over 2.000 restaurants are already taking part in this initiative.
