1/3 of the world's food production for human consumption is lost or wasted every year! In Greece, 5.1% of food production for human consumption is wasted each year, more than double the corresponding European average. Food waste is a problem that concerns us all. And it can be addressed at every stage of the chain, from the field to our plate.
At the same time, there is a need to inform and raise awareness among Greek consumers. The percentage of Greek consumers who would throw away a food item after the "best before" date has passed is twice the EU average.
We are committed to reducing waste throughout our supply chain by 50% by 2025, thereby reducing our own environmental footprint, for a better future for us and future generations. Through our actions to reduce waste, we help with our country to reduce the problem that plagues the world at a global level.
A problem that, in addition to environmental benefits, will also have social benefits, as long as waste is reduced. For example, better waste management and increased food donations will benefit people in need. And the needs are great, since 1.4 million of our fellow humans in Greece, i.e. 12.9% of the population, are faced with food insecurity.
For all the above reasons, we started targeted actions and initiatives around food waste and its reduction.
We founded the first Alliance for the Reduction of Food Waste in Greece together with the Borome organization.
We continue and increase the donations of short-term food through the Program, Food of Love.
We conducted 18-month research with Harokopion University to investigate food waste throughout our supply chain, from our suppliers and customers, to our own processes.
And we started a collaboration with WWF Greece, with the aim of information and awareness actions at all stages of our supply chain.
Our actions and initiatives around our commitment to reducing food waste are important to enable us to achieve the ambitious goal of a 50% reduction by 2025, five years ahead of the UN's 2030 target.
Food Donation - Since 2013, we have been the first in domestic retail to implement an organized food donation program, the Food of Love Program. Every day, we collect and offer to agencies and NGOs healthy food, which has become unmarketable due to close expiry date or due to damaged/damaged packaging. Our valuable partners in this journey of the last 9 years, the Food Bank and Borume. Since the start of the program, over 13 million euros worth of food has been donated and saved, which would have ended up in the waste. In 2021 alone, we offered over 8 million meals through the Program, covering 90% of the feeding needs of the organizations we supported!
The Food for Love program is one of AB's most innovative programs, as it becomes the first food chain in the domestic retail trade to implement an organized program of donation and management of perishable products. The innovation of the initiative is placed in the utilization of food and basic necessities, which, while fit for consumption, cannot be made available for sale due to their close expiration date or have slightly worn/damaged packaging.
The Alliance - In order to effectively deal with food waste, dynamic mobilization and coordinated action is needed. We are all part of the solution. For this reason, in cooperation with the organization "Boroume", we took the lead in creating the first "Alliance for the Reduction of Food Waste" in Greece. The Alliance already has 59 members from our social and business partners, and is under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
The goal of the "Alliance to Reduce Food Waste" is to reduce food waste in our country, through synergies and the cooperation of all parties involved. At AB we believe in the power of 'together' and take action today that will have a multiple positive impact tomorrow, with social, environmental and economic benefits.
The establishment of the first Alliance to Reduce Food Waste in Greece marks an important milestone, as until now there was no organized effort to reduce the problem in Greece. It has been embraced by our important social and business partners, among them even a retail chain.
The 18-month research - Our commitment to a better tomorrow requires knowing where we are today. For this reason, in collaboration with the Harokopion University, we started a large 18-month research in order to study the Spa
Education and awareness- A valuable partner of ours, WWF Greece, is with us to support us in our commitment to a better world, without food waste. The aim is to adopt best food loss practices, to inform and raise awareness of our customers, our suppliers, but also the large AB family, so that together we can achieve small or larger changes in our lives with a positive impact on nature, society and the economy. The collaboration with WWF Greece for awareness and information actions on food waste comes to complete the trip, with very targeted actions, in a country and at a time when the reduction of food waste was not among the priorities of our fellow human beings. For example, we are ranked 3rd worst in the European Union for understanding product labels correctly (expiry date vs best before).
