Edenred’s fight against food waste

🤔 What is the #StopFoodWasteDay? 

With one-third of the world's food produced for human consumption being lost or wasted, there is, more than ever, a need to change our behaviors and food management systems. Food waste is at the heart of some of the key challenges that we’re facing today: including hunger and poverty, climate change, health and wellbeing and the sustainability of agriculture and oceans. Food waste is also a waste of energy. The fight against food waste is part of three of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. The aim of this day is therefore to raise awareness about this important issue.

🔴 Edenred’s fight against food waste

According to the 2022 survey conducted by the European FOOD (Fighting Obesity through Offer and Demand) program coordinated by Edenred , in 2022, 44% of European restaurants had implemented measures to limit waste generated by meal delivery and take-out. In 2023, 72% of them have adopted measures to reduce food waste. These figures are moving in the right direction!

As part of its CSR approach, Edenred is committed to raising awareness about food waste among its partners. Through its purpose, "Enrich connections. For good", Edenred has reinforced this commitment. Since 2021, the promotion of the fight against food waste has been added to the themes of communication with our partner merchants and employee users. As a result, in addition to the reduction advice and awareness-raising actions, 11 countries have also presented partner initiatives or solutions to fight against food waste. Thus, as in previous years, communication campaigns via e-mails, barometers, social media publications and leaflets aimed at merchants, users and customers were also carried out regularly.

Some of our teams also propose different solutions to their partner merchants and users. For instance, Edenred has partnerships with applications like Too Good To Go or Phenix in many countries, platforms that connect shops and restaurants with citizens to offer unsold food at reduced prices. Elsewhere in the world, we distributed free food boxes to our merchant network as part of our #ZeroFoodWaste project, giving restaurant-goers the option of taking their unfinished meals home. We also ran a communications' campaign in the participating restaurants to encourage customers to ask for a doggy bag if needed. Moreover, we also started to build partnerships with companies that treat organic waste from offices, homes, restaurants and other sources through vermicomposting. The resulting fertilizer is either sent back to customers or given to a reforestation organization.

Discover 11 tips to stop food waste at home, from Stop Food Waste Day :

1⃣ Make a list

A family of four loses $1.500 a year on wasted food. Plan ahead by making a list and only buying what you know you will need.

2⃣ Learn the art of freezing

Each of us tosses nearly 130 kilos of food each year. Get in the habit of freezing leftovers, bread, vegetables, and fruit, instead of tossing them in the garbage.

3⃣ Help save water

Wasting a pound of beef is equivalent to running the shower for 370 minutes because of the resources needed to raise a cow. The longer meat is left out in room temperature, the quicker it will spoil. Always be sure to pick up meat, poultry, and seafood last and store it first when you get home.

4⃣ Revive your veggies

A quick soak in ice water for 5-10 minutes can revive wilted veggies. Even if they can’t be restored, some veggies you intended to eat raw in your salad can still shine in a cooked dish.

5⃣ Overcooked isn’t over for good

Overcooked vegetables can always be transformed into soups or sauces. Just put them in the blender with soup stock, milk, or cream. Vegetables like broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and potatoes are excellent for this.

6⃣ Less air = less freezer burn

This is what happens when food oxidizes in the freezer. Always squeeze any excess air from plastic bags and containers. For example, you likely won’t eat a whole loaf of bread at once, so slice it, wrap it securely and pop it in the freezer. Freezer burn is harmless but does affect taste.

7⃣ Don’t lose your bananas

Browning or spoiled bananas are perfectly fine to eat. Bruised parts of bananas may be easily cut away or used. Very brown or frozen bananas are great for baking quick breads, muffins or cakes.

8⃣ Waste less with kids

We want our kids to try new foods, but studies show that many children have to try a food up to 15 times before accepting it. Start with small portions and minimized untouched food. You can always offer seconds when they are interested.

9⃣ Use it up

90% of us throw away food too soon. Utilize recipes during the week that will use up the food that is about to go bad in your pantry or refrigerator. Just because your lettuce is wilted doesn’t mean it is time to throw it.

🔟 Get creative

Avoid wasting food by seeing what needs to be used up before you go to the grocery store. Think of a meal to make with those items, check your pantry for the rest of the ingredients and add missing pieces to the shopping list.

1⃣1⃣ Buy end-of-life product

In more and more supermarkets, you can now find some products that are almost at the end of their life at a lower price but that are perfectly eatable. You can also download some apps that propose a network of partner merchants (bakery, supermarkets, restaurants etc.) who sell at a lower price some products that are still good to eat but don’t have been sold during the day and won’t be sold the next day.

For more information:

👉 https://www.edenred.fr/magazine/anticiper-les-tendances/avantages-salaries/tendances-food-2023-les-resultats-du-barometre

👉 https://www.edenred.com/system/files/documents/2022-2023-edenred_urd_2022_mel.pdf

👉 https://www.stopfoodwasteday.com/en/cookbook.html