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Boroume at the meeting of the EU platform on Food Losses and Food Waste

Fri 15 July 2022

As a member of the EU Platform Food Losses and Food Waste for the second consecutive term, we have the opportunity to actively participate in the wide-ranging dialogue that has opened up on addressing food waste as a driver of climate change, but also as a phenomenon with negative effects on the economy and society.

We are particularly pleased that through our participation in the "Action & Implementation" working group, we presented, at its recent meeting, the Alliance for the Reduction of Food Waste in Greece. The voluntary and collective effort coordinated by Boroume with the aim of exchanging information and the cooperation of all those involved in the supply chain, from the field to the plate and which currently has 65 members. Similar initiatives were presented by organizations from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, Italy and Norway. 

As a member of the "Food Donation" working group, we had the opportunity to exchange opinions and experiences around the issue of donations, how they were affected and are affected by the pandemic and the energy crisis, if they follow an increasing or decreasing trend, etc. It is particularly positive that, with the exception of the difficult period of the pandemic, where some companies reduced donations due to suspension of work or some increased them due to the inability to make available a large amount of food, more and more companies involved in the food chain make sure to donate their surpluses for public good purpose in the context of waste prevention. This increasing trend is attributed to the context of CSR actions, to the change in the legislative/regulatory framework as well as to the fact that many newly entrant companies adopt from a very early stage actions and initiatives aimed at supporting society and the environment. 

The issue of date marking on food products, which is considered a major factor in food waste, was once again at the center of the EU Expert Platform. At the meeting of the working group "Use by date labeling and food waste", there were references to consumer surveys carried out in several EU countries, and alternative ways of labeling aimed at combating food waste were also put on the table. 

For us at Boroume, it is particularly important that through our participation in the EU Expert Platform we not only exchange knowledge and experience with the aim of taking effective actions to combat food waste, but at the same time we also highlight pioneering initiatives taken by Boroume at a national level.