PREMIUM Project 2026-2027: Natuurlijk Berghof

The Project:

Natuurlijk Berghof: next phase
 

Natuurlijk Berghof is a food forest company near Gerendal, a protected nature area in South Limburg and known for its protected wild orchids. The build-up of a food forest ecosystem takes 7-10 years. With Natuurlijk Berghof being in its 4th year and starting to yield various crops, preparation for the next organizational phase has to start: how can a food forest become not only ecologically valuable but also commercially successful?

Natuurlijk Berghof wants to explore how a nature-inclusive ecosystem can be organized as a viable company. The main challenge is not simply to compare food forests with traditional farming but to identify the specific operational and commercial aspects that require attention in a food forest context. 

Food forests may produce diverse, seasonal, and sometimes unpredictable outputs, creating challenges around harvesting, storage, processing, transport, sales, and coordination. The project should identify these critical components and develop realistic scenarios for organizing them. In doing so, the student team may also draw inspiration from non-agricultural sectors facing comparable dynamics, such as fragmented supply, perishability, niche markets or local value chains.

The project offers the opportunity to work on a real-world sustainability challenge at the intersection of ecology, business, operations and innovation, and to advise Natuurlijk Berghof on realistic scenarios for future development: the next phase.

The Client:

“Natuurlijk Berghof” is a BV formed in 2022 by 3 partners, living and working in the South of the Netherlands. From the hamlet of Berghof, beautifully positioned on top of the Keutenberg in between Natura 2000 areas, we work in harmony with nature towards a sustainable food chain, aiming to inspire others to do the same. By 2035, our vision is to have developed an agricultural system based on a diversity of perennial crops (a “food forest”), which is proven to be profitable for farmers, nature, and society alike. So far, over the past four years, the growth of our food forest ecosystem has exceeded our expectations, both ecologically and societally.