Robin
Nederlands
Sla

That's Robin

Why Robin?

What is Robin doing in the area of food and health?

Robin makes healthy food accessible and affordable for everyone. Products such as vegetables, fruit, bread, meat, and dairy are supplied by local farmers. The selection is complemented by European products that are rarely or never produced here, such as citrus fruits, olives, and pasta. This ensures a complete range of healthy products for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is available year-round. By joining Robin, you’re helping to improve people’s health and well-being.

Why is this necessary?

  • The price of healthy food and beverages rose by 21% between 2010 and 2020, while the price of unhealthy products rose by 15%. Products such as ice cream and candy actually became cheaper during this period.
  • 80% of the products available in supermarkets do not fall within the Wheel of Five. This also applies to special offers.
  • Between a quarter and half of healthcare spending goes toward preventable chronic diseases, which are partly the result of unhealthy eating.

What is Robin doing to address poverty?

At Robin, everyone pays for their groceries according to their means through a social pricing system. This ensures that even people with limited financial means have access to healthy food. In this way, Robin helps improve the health of people with limited financial means and promotes equal opportunities.

Why is this necessary?

  • In 2022, 6 out of 10 households were financially vulnerable.
  • Where you live has a major impact on your health and life opportunities.
  • The poorest 20 percent of the Dutch population spends 24 years in poorer health and lives 8 years less than the richest 20 percent.
  • If you feel like every day is a struggle to survive, taking care of your health takes a back seat.

What is Robin doing to support farmers?

Robin offers farmers a fair price for their products. This gives them hope for the future. In addition, they receive a subsidy per hectare. This enables them to take steps toward more sustainable farming practices, thereby strengthening their long-term viability.

Why is this necessary?

  • Farmers are trapped in a system where intensification and large-scale operations are the only way to make ends meet. Rising land prices are exacerbating that problem.
  • Farms that want to switch to more extensive farming often cannot get financing from banks. Farm succession is also becoming increasingly difficult.
  • Many farmers are socially isolated and receive little recognition from society.
  • Every day (!) two to three farmers in the Netherlands go out of business. The number of farms is halving every 25 years.

How does Robin work?

At Robin, food goes directly from the farmer to the consumer, saving a lot of money. This money goes to both the participating farmers and consumers.

The citizen

As a Robin member, you pay a fair price for your food. In fact, you don’t pay per item; instead, your membership fee covers all the costs we incur to get produce from farmers to you. So we share the annual costs together. You choose good food with a clear origin and support a model where value is not absorbed by unnecessary middlemen.

Households with average income pay 10 to 25% less than the average. Households with low income pay 20 to 50% less, and households with high income pay the average price.

You don’t need to submit your pay stub to us to be placed in one of these groups. By honestly answering a few simple questions, you’ll be placed in the group that best fits your life situation. This makes fresh, locally sourced food accessible to everyone—not just the lucky few.

You can find Robin near the participating residents. Livestock farming. This way, you can get healthy food close to home. This can take the form of a (mobile) store and/or a pickup point in the neighborhood. The final format depends on the local area and the residents’ preferences. Robin will also organize meetups with the farmer in the neighborhood. After all, doing things together is much more fun, educational, and delicious than doing them alone. Our members decide how.

The farmer

Our farmers receive a fair price for the food they produce. This not only improves their livelihoods in the short term, but also enables them to make their farms more sustainable for the future.

Together, we take a step toward better soil every year. Farmers receive compensation per hectare for this. For example, one year we might focus on biodiversity, and the next on water management. Organic farming isn’t necessarily our ultimate goal, but we will work on various aspects of it.

Robin’s farmers are paid for their products and their efforts. In the event of a crop failure, a food fund—financed by membership dues—ensures that affiliated members have enough to eat. In this way, we share this risk collectively. There is also a land fund to purchase agricultural land for purposes such as expanding livestock farming. In this way, Robin offers farmers a future in an alternative food system based on their current scale of operations.

Frequently asked questions

You can become a member via the sign-up form on our website. After registering you will receive a confirmation and instructions on the next steps. You choose the membership that fits your situation.

At Robin you pay according to your means. That means people with a lower income pay less for the same products. The system is based on trust — you indicate which rate suits your situation.

Robin offers a wide range of healthy products: vegetables, fruit, bread, meat, dairy, and dry goods. The range is complemented by European products such as citrus fruits, olives, and pasta. All products come from local farmers or carefully selected suppliers.

At the moment you can pick up your groceries at our location in Tilburg. We are working on delivery options and additional pick-up points in the area. Keep an eye on our website and newsletter for updates.

Join Robin

Residents

Do you live in Tilburg and want to join Robin? We’ve developed a declaration of support together with Tilburg residents. By signing it, you’re showing your enthusiasm for Robin and your desire to be part of this movement. You can email the signed declaration to robin@zoisrobin.nl. Need help with this? Please contact [xxx].

Don’t live in Tilburg, but would you like to have a Robin in your area? By filling out this form, you can sign up as a “dot on the map.” Robin will then contact you if there are enough interested people in your region to form a group. You can always decide later whether or not you want to participate. Your name and contact information are not visible to visitors of our website, and we do not use them for any other purposes.

Farmers

Are you a farmer in the Tilburg area and interested in joining Robin? Together with farmers in the Tilburg area, we have developed a [xxx statement]. This document outlines the principles of our collaboration. For more information, please contact robin@zoisrobin.nl or call Derk van Balen at [06 xxx.]

Is your farm not located in the Tilburg area, but would you like to join if a Robin opens near you? By filling out this form, you’ll sign up as a “dot on the map.” Robin will then contact you if there are enough interested parties in your region to form an initiative group together. Your name and contact information are not visible to visitors to our website, and we do not use them for any other purposes.

Become a dot on the map

Join the cooperative and put yourself on the map. We only show an approximate location based on your postcode — your name and address stay private.

I am a…
Loading…