Belgian supermarkets last year donated 33 million meals to disadvantaged people, 32% more than in 2020, the Comeos trade federation announced on the eve of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, celebrated each year on 29 September.
Thousands of tonnes of edible food are lost every year and Belgium's supermarkets are trying to avoid this as much as possible, Comeos notes. “Barely 1.5% of the food on our supermarket shelves goes unsold, compared with 2% two years ago. What we don’t sell, we give away as much as possible,” says Nathalie De Greve, Comeos’ sustainable development manager.
Last year, the sector donated 33 million meals to food banks and other social organisations. That’s almost 100,000 meals a day.
Even food that isn’t sold or donated isn’t thrown in the bin. “Of the unsold food, 95% is processed, for example into animal feed or biofermentation. In this way, we try to recycle everything wisely and reduce actual food losses in our sector to an absolute minimum,” added De Greve.
A Eurostat study shows that the biggest problem with food waste lies with consumers themselves. More than half (53%) of all discarded food ends up in consumers’ household bins.
