The bakery product sector in Europe and internationally, is highly competitive. The bakery industry, in close alliance with the supermarket chains, offers a variety of products at low prices, steadily gaining ground against small bakeries. A similar picture appears in the Greek market, where the “traditional” bakeries hold an ever smaller market share, with a fall in turnover, reduced profitability and a consequent rise in unemployment.In this context, the small business members of the Ag. Grigorios Bakers’ Association in the Euboia prefecture need to “innovate” in order to satisfy the tastes of modern consumers, which include such items as high quality health food products. To achieve this “turnabout”, which is in direct line with the global trend towards Clean Label and Organic Products, this action plan is being proposed. The plan involves the training of 16 people belonging to the staff of the member companies of the Association (bakers and bakery managers, employees), providing them with necessary knowledge and developing their skills in the field of organic bakery products (raw materials, preparation methods, distribution, certification, relevant legislation). The training will last 11 days and will take place in one session in autumn 2016. The host country chosen is Germany, which boasts a highly developed market for organic pastry products within a comprehensive legislative framework. Training activities include study visits to bakery chains that manufacture organic bread and organic dough products, to organic product certification bodies, to equivalent professional bakers’ associations, to the Ministry of the German State, as well as to bodies that regulate organic pastry products, which are entitled to display the related mark. Contact, interaction, evaluation of information, and exchanges of views among experienced bakers, equivalent professional unions, and competent bodies at the European level are expected to contribute to the formation of a new business model able to operate effectively and competitively in favour of baker-members of the Association, and for the bakery industry in general.Key Objectives of the project are:- The acquisition of new knowledge, improving the existing skills of staff, recognition and certification of applications across Europe;- The acquisition of knowledge (technological equipment, new methods and trends);- The development of cooperation at a European level between social partners, suppliers, and business organisations in a European environment;- Alignment with the global trend towards organic bread, integration and dissemination of good practices in daily work and in the operation of small-business bakeries,- A gradual increase by 10-15% in the turnover of bakery businesses that will adopt the acquired knowledge, higher profitability, and a consequent increase in jobs within the next three years;- Linking European training policy and the labour market, increasing competitiveness and employment, local and national;- Strengthening the internationalisation of the mission of the Association and the internationalisation of its activities, to strengthen the European orientation and modernisation of its operations so as to meet the modern needs of its members.Key Results expected from the project are:- The integration of improved abilities and skills of trainees in the workplace;- The exploitation of comparative competitive advantages offered by the diversification of the product offered, at the individual and sector level (knowledge of preparation, certification and marketing of organic bakeries);- The integration of all learning outcomes and an increase in the participants’ ability to trigger changes towards their personal development and their contribution to the modernisation of their working environment;- Satisfying the demands of the modern consumer, who cares about both safe consumption and environmental protection, desiring organic pastry products made with organic raw materials (no chemical fertilisers);- Achieving growth in turnover, profitability and employment in member businesses of the Association;- Acquiring the ability for the Association to prepare its members to enter into partnerships at a European level and more generally to undertake the modernisation of its operations.The positive influence resulting from the dissemination of the results of this action plan to numerous target groups is expected to be operational leverage and feedback for future similar plans at Local, Regional, National and European level.