Companies from the agri-food sector should mark in their calendars September 2026 A call is planned under intervention I.10.7.1 “Development of cooperation within the value chain (grant) – outside the farm”. This is an instrument aimed at micro, small and medium-sized enterprises from all over Poland, whose objective is to strengthen the market position of the SME sector and develop lasting cooperation between farmers and the processing sector.
Who is this grant for?
The support is intended for SME, which:
- carry out activities in the field of processing agricultural products and, as a result of this process, produce agricultural products, excluding fishery and aquaculture products, or
- place agricultural products on the market, but only in the case of organised forms of cooperation between farmers.
The intervention also includes a separate area for the processing and marketing of organic agricultural products. The call is nationwide.
The programme is addressed primarily to companies operating in the agri-food processing sector. The official list of types of activity eligible for support shows that these may include, among others, entities engaged in processing meat and poultry, meat products, processing potatoes, fruit and vegetables, producing juices, vegetable oils, dairy products, grain mill products, starch, egg products, feed and pet food, as well as producing grape wines, cider and fruit wines. The list also includes selected types of wholesale activity, e.g. wholesale of grain and oilseeds. (Gov.pl)
What can receive funding?
The funding supports tangible and intangible investments concerning:
- construction of buildings or structures,
- purchase of technologies used to process agricultural products or place them on the market,
- environmental protection investments,
- infrastructure for processing food waste into bio-components or processing by-products generated in the production of agricultural products. (Gov.pl)
In practice, this means that the project may cover expenditure such as production lines, machinery and equipment, plant modernisation, environmental infrastructure, selected renewable energy (RES) and energy recovery installations, or software for managing the production or storage process.
Official sources confirm the direction of investment support, but the final scope of eligible costs will need to be confirmed once the call documentation has been published.
What is the amount of the grant?
The level of support depends on the type of beneficiary and the area of intervention.
| Area | Aid intensity |
|---|---|
| Area A | up to 50% of eligible costs; for beneficiaries operating as organised forms of cooperation between farmers – up to 60% |
| Area B (processing and marketing of organic agricultural products) | up to 60% |
The maximum aid for a single beneficiary over the entire programme period is PLN 10 million.
The programme is particularly attractive for companies planning a larger investment project that have their own financial contribution and the capacity to pre-finance costs, as the support is paid by way of reimbursement. From a management perspective, this is important when planning the financing structure, the expenditure schedule and any bridging loan.
Which projects will have an advantage?
The official description of the intervention indicates several clear preferences. Higher scores are to be given to projects:
- implemented by organised forms of cooperation between farmers,
- supporting the objectives of the “Farm to Fork” strategy,
- including an environmental protection component accounting for at least 20% of eligible costs,
- covering investments of an innovative nature, if at least 50% of eligible costs relate to such a component,
- and, in the organic area, projects of entities processing or marketing agricultural products covered by organic farming certification in a sufficiently high proportion.
From the point of view of preparing the application, this means that the purchase of machinery alone may not be enough to give the project a competitive advantage. Investments that combine the development of processing capacity with an environmental component, technological innovation, the circular economy or lasting cooperation with agricultural producers may perform much better.
Why is this call important for processing SMEs?
Unlike many smaller instruments, this competition is scalable for medium-sized and larger investments in the food sector. It can be treated as a tool for:
- increasing production capacity,
- expanding the plant,
- improving environmental performance,
- better links with the raw material base,
- and putting contractual relations with suppliers in order.
The CAP Strategic Plan itself emphasises that the intervention is intended to strengthen the position of farmers in the value chain through long-term contracts and the elimination of some intermediaries who do not create added value. (Gov.pl)
It is also worth remembering that the ARiMR schedule also provides for a related call “Development of cooperation within the value chain – on the farm” from 1 October to 2 November 2026.
If you run a company in the agri-food processing sector and are planning to modernise your plant, purchase a production line, expand your infrastructure or make an environmental investment, this call may be one of the more important sources of financing in 2026.
Please contact Dotacje-online.pl. We will help you assess your company’s eligibility, match the project to intervention I.10.7.1 and prepare a grant application to ARiMR (Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture).Contact us
Author: Dariusz Kozakiewicz
EU funding expert