A suite of case studies from across the EU, demonstrating actions to reduce food losses and waste.
The Pilot Working Platform in Hungary included representatives from key organizations of the Hungarian food sector. Participants are committed towards more efficiently using food and fighting against hunger. They identified potential projects that help achieving these goals and recommended assigned research, knowledge sharing and raising of awareness as the first steps to be started in each segment of the food sector.
Contact: Balázs Cseh, Hungarian Food Bank Association
A series of Case Studies from Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and Spain. Deliverable D2.4.
A voluntary agreement is a proven method for tackling food waste. By working together to achieve collective goals, organisations can collaborate and deliver change in the most efficient, effective way. Using practical examples from the REFRESH national programs, as well as WRAP’s UK success including Courtauld 2025, this guide outlines the steps necessary for building successful voluntary agreements.
35% less food waste achieved, including through cooperation with the REFRESH project
Tesco has been making efforts to reduce food waste in its stores and warehouses. A new report finds that in order to take further effective steps it is necessary to scan and measure where and how much excess food and waste is generated during its operation. The food saving activities of TESCO are closely connected to the REFRESH pilot project “Broadening the bridge”.
The “Night of the Market” event was organized for the second time, during which, for one night, the Budapest Wholesale Market was open to public. The first anniversary of the cooperation with the Food Bank was also celebrated at the event.
How to reduce food waste during events?
As part of the "Just Like Home" pilot project, participants prepared a guide that provides useful advice to event organizers who wish to organize the events with the least amount of food waste.
The subject of the first event organized by the HCSFO (Hungarian Food Chain Safety Office) Round Table was the reduction of the amount of food waste, in which both distributors and charities as well as representatives of public authorities and legislators took part.
In February 2018, the Hungarian National Steering Committee met again. The meeting took place at the Ministry of Agriculture, and all members of the Steering Committee were present at the meeting. The Steering Committee reviewed the projects and the cooperation among the projects coordinated by the Committee.
30 tons of food was collected for those in need by the ‘donation convoy’ of Hungarian Food Bank Association
Nineteen companies took part in the 12th HFBA – FAO donation convoy, which drew attention to the controversy of food waste and hunger by crossing Budapest on October 16th.
An application to reduce food waste
Between September 28 and 29, 2017 the first Food Waste Hackathon was organized in Miskolc, by the Bay Zoltán Applied Research Nonprofit Ltd. During the event the enthusiastic participants had to design an application or web-page that can help to mitigate the amount of food waste along the entire food chain.
The activity of food chain Tesco on food waste reduction is exemplary
Tesco Europe has published its report on the amount of food surplus and waste generated during its operation for the financial year 2016/2017. The chain stores has published such data first from the sector representatives in the Central European region, for it is convinced that transparency and measurement are indispensable to taking even more effective steps to reduce waste.
PWP reported about good practices to reduce food waste
The Hungarian pilot working platform (PWP) meeting was organised as a conference alongside the National Agriculture and Food Exhibition and Fair. The event took place in September 2017 and the main organizer was the Agricultural Marketing Agency. The primary objective of the event was to present professionally the development of advanced, efficient, environmentally conscious businesses, family farms, small and primary producers, and introduce their values and results to the profession and to the general public. One of the main focus points of the event was the fight against food waste.
Creating value for imperfect fruit and vegetables
The Hungarian Pilot Working Platform initiated the pilot project “Ugly but tasty” in February 2017. The main goal of the pilot is to start working on a “farm to fork” approach to food waste related activities in the fruit & vegetable sector. This chain is one of the shortest chains as processing is not part of it, thereby we can relatively easier focus on the full chain from production to consumer.
The main focus of the project is on the lower quality products, where the plan is to test possible channels for both a marketed (sale) and a non-marketed (free redistribution) basis.
Food waste prevention in event catering
In April 2017 The Hungarian Pilot Working Platform initiated the pilot project “Just like at home”. The aim of the project is to dissolve the paradox of “oversupply by virtual needs” and creating a common basis of understanding and awareness about the issue of food waste in the whole chain (from caterer to consumer) by matching a realistic/real demand/supply in this special type of consumer scenario where the cost of food is not a primary selector.
Modelling and increasing channel capacities in food surplus redistribution
The Hungarian Pilot Working Platform has initiated and started executing a new pilot project in May 2017. The goal of the project “Broadening the bridge” is to model the total cost of redistribution within the “redistribution supply chain” including food banks and redistribution partner organisations, calculate the potential return on investment in case of additional funding and look at possible funding sources, especially concentrating the existing resources in the social care system such as using the existing (and maybe not 100% used) capacities and potential funding sources such as the EU FEAD program.
In July 2017, REFRESH reached out to consumers in its four pilot countries (The Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Hungary) to complete a survey on food and drink products. The purpose of the research is to investigate different contents and formats of on-pack information and their effect on consumer understanding and food waste behaviours in these four EU member states. The results of the survey will be disseminated towards the end of 2017.
The Steering Committee of the „Food is Value”- Forum Against Food Loss and Waste has agreed on the main goals and priorities set out in the Framework for Action document. The document goes on to outline how these priorities will be addressed through project targets and project measurement, as well as the core responsibilities of the platform members.
Representatives from key organizations of the food sector attended the first REFRESH Pilot Working Platform Steering Committee meeting in Budapest on March 22, 2016. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and organized by the Hungarian Food Bank Association. Participants confirmed their commitment towards more efficiently using food and fighting against hunger.
