ENVIRONMENT

BUSINESS: 295 PRACTICES


TOPIC:

Initiative

SUBMITTED FROM:

ΑΒ ΒΑΣΙΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ

From the first grocery store on Voulis Street, which opened its doors in 1939, to the approximately 600 stores that our network lists today, we do our best to make a difference in people's lives.

With a team of diverse and unique people, we are always there for our 2.2 million customers, guided by our values - courage, integrity, teamwork, care and humor - and our Code of Ethics. Always next to every neighborhood of Greece, where our heart beats. Where our people become your people, ready to serve you with joy and passion and offer a unique shopping experience.



Objective Action

At AB Basilopoulos we take care of the environment, for ourselves and for future generations. And to make this goal a reality, we do everything in our power to adopt a "green" behavior to help protect the environment.

In this context, in September 2019, we made a big commitment to the environment and more specifically to Food Waste. We are committed to reducing our footprint by 50% by 2025.

 

Target Audience

General public

 

Duration

From 2019 to 2025


Description

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).


more...

Impact on Society

Food Donation- 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 Alliance - 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 18-month research - The Harokopio University research revealed that every year in Greece, Greek households throw away over 1,000,000 tons of food, half of which could be safely consumed and not end up in the trash! In addition, food waste in the household sector exceeds 50% of the total waste and every citizen in Greece throws away 98.2 kg of food from his household every year, while for a family of four, this figure reaches 392.8 kg of food annually. At the same time, food waste causes an incalculable waste of natural resources, which are used to produce food that is ultimately not consumed.

Education and awareness- The results of this pillar of action cannot yet be captured.



Initiative Location

The actions are implemented throughout Greece


Working with Organization

  • 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, in collaboration with the Food Bank and Borume.
  • 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.

More...…

Workers Participation

All our employees participate in the actions


Benefits for Οrganization

AΒ is leading an effort to reduce food waste throughout the supply chain, and to support through actions, this initiative-

is changing its internal procedures to further limit losses in its stores and warehouses

places even greater emphasis on the donation of quality and absolutely safe food, as it already does through the Short Food Donation Program, "Food of Love"

works with its suppliers by providing them with practical information on ways in which they too can reduce losses in agricultural production and processing

responsibly and respectfully informs all its customers, developing useful tools that will help citizens to effectively reduce food waste within the household sector




Connection with Global Goals






Send us your feedback Print
The Sustainable Greece Ιnitiative launched by QualityNet Foundation