PETERSON PROJECTS BV

Their core work

Peterson Projects is a Rotterdam-based SME that contributes business model design and innovation framework expertise to large EU research projects in the agri-food sector. Their work focuses on translating sustainability research into practical economic mechanisms — designing how farmers, value chain actors, and communities can capture value from sustainable practices and ecosystem services. In Ploutos they worked on data-driven business model innovation for agri-food value chains, while in SHOWCASE they focused on economic incentives that help farmers benefit financially from biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. They act as the "business strategy and governance" layer inside technically-focused research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both projects began in 2020, so this is not a strict temporal evolution — it is a thematic expansion visible across the two projects. The Ploutos project established their foundation in sustainable innovation frameworks, business model design, and data-driven approaches for food value chains. SHOWCASE then extended this into ecosystem services valuation, public goods economics, and citizen engagement — topics shaped by EU biodiversity and Green Deal policy priorities. The direction is clear: Peterson Projects is moving from agri-food business transformation toward the broader nature-agriculture-economics nexus, positioning for Horizon Europe themes around biodiversity and payment-for-ecosystem-services.

Peterson Projects is heading toward the intersection of agricultural economics, biodiversity valuation, and participatory governance — a space that will attract significant EU funding under Horizon Europe's Mission on Soil and the Farm to Fork strategy.

How they like to work

Peterson Projects participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never as coordinator — in both projects they joined large international teams rather than building or managing them. With 56 unique partners from 21 countries generated across just two projects, they clearly operate inside very large consortia (likely 20-30+ partners each), contributing focused expertise to defined workpackages rather than leading cross-cutting coordination. A potential partner should expect a reliable, specialist-mode contributor who delivers in business model and socio-economic workpackages without taking on project management overhead.

Peterson Projects has connected with 56 unique partners across 21 countries through only two projects, reflecting participation in very large, geographically diverse EU research consortia. No single regional cluster is identifiable from the data, suggesting broad European reach without a specific country focus beyond their Dutch base.

What sets them apart

Peterson Projects fills a specific gap that pure research institutes cannot: translating sustainability science into business models and economic mechanisms that actually work for farmers and food chain companies. Unlike management consultancies, they are embedded in the EU research project ecosystem and fluent in the language and requirements of H2020 and Horizon Europe consortia. For a consortium building at the food-environment-economics interface, they offer a rare combination of practical business model expertise and EU project experience — without the overhead of a large institution.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SHOWCASE
  The largest of Peterson's two projects (EUR 214,934, running to 2025) tackles the commercially underexplored intersection of agriculture, biodiversity, and ecosystem service economics — directly relevant to EU Green Deal implementation.
• Ploutos
  Demonstrates Peterson's foundational expertise in data-driven business model innovation for agri-food value chains, combining behavioral and technological innovation in a single framework.