Food waste, Too good to go study:greater awareness for consumers, public establishments and large-scale retail trade

On the occasion of the International Day of Awareness of Food Waste and Loss announced by the United Nations, Too Good To Go presents the "Food Waste Observatory"

MILAN – A basic awareness of the issue of food waste on the part of the various actors in the food supply chain and a commitment to implementing concrete actions to combat it, although, to date, still with different levels of depth and effectiveness.This is what emerges from'Food Waste Observatory made by Too Good To Go, a social impact company and the largest global marketplace for surplus food, in collaboration with theUniversity of Turin, lRoma Tre University And Bain & Company Italy , presented on the occasion of International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day which is celebrated on September 29th.

Already in 2011, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) had calculated that around a third of all global food production was wasted, underlining the need to strengthen efforts to tackle waste and raise awareness of more and more people on the topic.A topic whose relevance is growing every day and which requires an analysis capable of considering the main subjects involved in a broader way to define the contours, causes and mechanisms and to arrive at the definition of effective solutions.

The Too Good To Go Food Waste Observatory goes precisely in this direction, investigating, thanks to the precious contribution of sector experts, the topic of food waste, the anti-waste behaviors and practices implemented by the main players in the supply chain - consumers , Public Businesses and Large-Scale Retailers - and thus offering an in-depth overall vision.

The main findings emerging from the Observatory

Consumers:awareness, attention and daily anti-waste actions.

According to what emerges from the consumer study, conducted by the team of the "Valter Cantino" Department of Management of the University of Turin on consumers and users of Too Good To Go, the 95% of the interviewees demonstrates profound awareness regarding food waste unlike what emerges in other studies on the Italian population.Indeed, a quarter of the respondents stated that never waste food, while 52% waste less than 250 g per week.A smaller amount of food wasted corresponds to a smaller waste of money:from an economic point of view, in fact, for 57% of those interviewed, their food waste equates to a cost of less than 5 euros, while for 40% it is between 5 and 25 euros.

In the consumption phase, the 90% pays great attention to expiration date, using foods with the closest date first and purchasing, where possible, those with the most distant expiry date.But not only:the'83% of those interviewed say they consume food even after the minimum shelf life has expired, provided that they have not already deteriorated, therefore indicating that you should rely more on your senses than the date indicated on the product.

“This evidence that has emerged indicates the growth in consumer attention on the issue of waste and testifies to the effectiveness of the awareness and responsibility work that we are carrying out in the direction of a zero-waste future" he declared Mirco Cerisola, Country Director Italy of Too Good To Go. “As Too Good To Go we strive every day to reduce food waste, guiding the consumer towards more sustainable and conscious choices.Choices that also involve overcoming confusion regarding expiry dates and minimum shelf life.Like, for example, our “Observe-Smell-Taste” Conscious Label which, thanks to collaboration with almost 500 brands, can now be found on 7 billion product packages in 15 European markets, and which, also in light of the results emerging from the Observatory, is helping consumers to develop an ever deeper awareness on the topic and to implement more responsible consumption practices".

The main strategy adopted to prevent food waste and prolong food conservation is the use of the freezer (90%), but also the shopping list plays a fundamental role in avoiding a surplus in the purchase of food:in fact, for 88% shopping planning involves checking the refrigerator before making purchases, while 85% say they also write a detailed list.Regarding the anti-waste practices adopted, it clearly emerges that the most widespread practice consists of purchasing products that are approaching their expiry date at a discounted price (66.89%).This is followed by the use of recipes for cooking with leftovers (53.87%) and sharing food (51.70%).

Public establishments:widespread commitment, but the cost of food waste is still high.

The analysis conducted by the team led by Prof. Principato of the Department of Business Economics of the Roma Tre University, focused on waste outside domestic homes, i.e. that of public establishments.Here it emerges that approximately half of the restaurants, bars and clubs interviewed - partners of Too Good To Go - appear aware of the environmental, social and economic impacts related to the phenomenon of food waste, with particular concern above all towards the economic aspect.

The vast majority of respondents (80%) say they are committed to reducing waste, but only 14% say they have implemented a waste measurement system.Note that only 8% of those interviewed are aware of the Gadda Law and its incentives to donate food.

The 31% of the public businesses interviewedthe declares of waste a lot of food equivalent to over 400 euros per month, followed by another 18.5% reporting an economic loss of between 200 and 400 euros per month.

Considering the five phases during which the phenomenon of food waste occurs in public establishments (procurement, preparation of food, storage, service at the counter or in the dining room and final consumption), for the 73% of such exercises, the service phase (or retail sale) is the one in which the greatest waste is recorded.This is mainly due to the difficulty of anticipating the flow of customers which consequently leads to the presence of unsold products at the end of the day.

Among the main practices for daily management of unsold food, there is the use of apps against food waste, including Too Good To Go (83%).

GDO:concreteness and need for shared common guidelines.

The Observatory also took into consideration the vision of several Italian managers of large-scale retail trade, trying to identify the phases and factors that contribute to food waste.According to the testimonies collected by the Bain team, waste in large-scale retail trade can mainly be attributed to two causes:there expiry of products and the defective packaging.

However, most companies do not yet have a structured and verified system for reporting this waste, given the Industry-wide lack of standard guidelines, both as a target and as a "calculation" method.

Companies try to make up for this gap by creating ad hoc functions with responsibility for monitoring and optimizing waste along the production and commercial supply chain.In fact, there is a "spontaneous" commitment in all the companies interviewed to implement actions against food waste: donations to social bodies, discounts on products nearing their expiry date, implementation of software for sales forecasting, rotation of goods with respect to stocks in the warehouse and promotion of a culture attentive to reducing waste in the kitchen and in restaurants.

The key points for i protagonists of the GDO are the responsibility, the definition of a structured process for waste management, the increase in collective awareness and the strengthening with partnerships and third parties to implement innovative solutions, such as Too Good To Go.

“Finding and adopting concrete measures against food waste for each sector and for each stage of the supply chain has become increasingly imperative, but it all starts with greater awareness of the individual.The idea of ​​the Observatory was born precisely from the need to monitor the numbers and behaviors of Italians as a whole, and Too Good To Go, with this study, has provided a basis on which to rely for studying the topic in the future" continues Mirco Cerisola, Country Director Italy of Too Good To Go. “As emerged from the study, Too Good To Go is one of the solutions adopted by both consumers and public establishments and large-scale retail trade for reasons that are mostly linked to sustainability and attention not to waste.It is positive to detect such awareness on the topic which is transformed into concrete actions."

“Small Steps, Big Impact”:the Too Good To Go campaign for International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day

To further raise people's awareness on the issue of food waste, Too Good To Go is launching a special information campaign focusing on small daily steps capable of making a difference. “Small steps, big impact” the name of the campaign celebrates concrete gestures, such as saving still good food, that each of us can do in our small daily lives and which, if taken on a large scale, are able to generate a great impact for everyone and for the planet.

As demonstrated by the numbers achieved by Too Good To Go in Italy:from the arrival of the anti-waste app in 2019 to today there have been over 15,400,000 meals saved by the Too Good To Go community for a total of over 38,500,000 kg of CO2e emissions avoided.Only since the beginning of the year have I gone further 4.300.000 the “Surprise Bags” saved in our country.A commitment that involves over 7 people.8 million usersi and beyond 26,000 partners, ranging from small independent neighborhood shops to big names in large-scale distribution and retail, including Alice Pizza, Carrefour Italia and Crai.

But not only:Also 45 companies of the food industry which, thanks to “Pantry Box” – the new Too Good To Go solution, designed to reduce waste in the transformation phase of the food supply chain – have already contributed to saving over 1,600,000 products from going to waste.Approximately 6 months after the launch of the solution, they were purchased by Too Good To Go users already beyond 70,000 Pantry Boxes.

To view the full report, visit link.

******

Methodological note

The Observatory was built by Too Good To Go in collaboration with theUniversity of Turin, the'University of Roma Tre And Bain & Company.

The Observatory is structured into three main lines of analysis:the first, conducted by the University of Turin, has as its object final consumers and was guided by a detailed survey involving consumers and users of Too Good To Go residing throughout Italy;the second, conducted by the Roma Tre University and which has as its object i public establishments, was carried out through a detailed survey sent to 18,000 Too Good To Go partners present throughout Italy;finally, the third was conducted by Bain & Company and focuses on Large-scale organized distribution (GDO):was carried out through in-depth interviews with representatives of large-scale retail trade brands in Italy.