Europe’s Food Industry at the Forefront to Tackle Food Wastage

04 Jun 2014 --- With the theme of the 2014 edition of the European Commission’s Green Week focusing on Circular Economy, Resource Efficiency & Waste [1], Europe’s food and drink manufacturers are presenting their commitments to reduce and prevent food wastage.

FoodDrinkEurope will welcome visitors from 3 to 5 June at The Egg Conference Centre, in Brussels, at the Green Week exhibition. FoodDrinkEurope will be present with an interactive stand which focuses on the major societal problem of food wastage. It will present the sector’s leadership in tackling this issue in close cooperation with partners along the food supply chain.

“Because we focus our business model on sustainable growth, food wastage is at the top of our agenda”, said Mella Frewen, FoodDrinkEurope’s Director General. “We have been very active in promoting industry commitments and providing concrete tools to achieve them”.

Almost one year ago, FoodDrinkEurope published its Joint Stakeholder Declaration on Food Wastage entitled ‘Every Crumb Counts’ [2], alongside the FoodDrinkEurope Food Wastage Toolkit [3], developed to help food manufacturers reduce and prevent food waste by sharing best practice and guidance. The co-signatories to the Joint Declaration have pledged to work towards preventing edible food waste and to promote a life-cycle approach to reducing wastage.

“We are convinced that food and drink companies can play a major role in contributing to a more circular economy”, commented Frewen. FoodDrinkEurope will continue its efforts to raise awareness and help shape EU level policy to prevent and reduce food wastage.

FoodDrinkEurope is also a key contributor to ‘Actions towards a more sustainable European food chain’ [4]. The Joint Declaration, published last month, encourages EU policy makers to support a more cohesive approach to safeguarding the sustainability of food systems for future generations.

[1] http://www.greenweek2014.eu/
[2] http://everycrumbcounts.eu/
[3] http://www.fooddrinkeurope.eu/industry-in-focus/maximizing-food-resources/
[4] http://www.fooddrinkeurope.eu/S=0/news/press-release/europes-food-chain-partners-working-towards-more-sustainable-food-systems/