German retailers REWE Group, Lidl, Kaufland and Aldi are among the retailers signing the Pakt gegen Lebensmittelverschwendung (‘Pact against Food Waste’) at an event with the country’s minister of food and agriculture, Cem Özdemir, in Berlin.
The retailers have pledged to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.
The pact includes several agreements, including a commitment to expanding the transfer of goods that are still edible to non-profit organisations, among others.
The full list of retailers to commit to the pact includes: Aldi Einkauf SE & Co. oHG, Aldi Süd Dienstleistungs-SE & Co. oHG, Chefs Culinar West GmbH & Co. KG, Niederlassung Wöllstein, EDEKA Zentrale Stiftung & Co. KG, HelloFresh Deutschland SE & Co. KG, Kaufland Dienstleistung & Co. KG, Lidl Dienstleistung GmbH & Co. KG, Metro Deutschland GmbH, Netto Marken-Discount Stiftung & Co. KG, NORMA Lebensmittelfilialbetrieb Stiftung & Co. KG, Penny Markt GmbH, REWE Markt GmbH, tegut… gute Lebensmittel GmbH & Co. KG, and Transgourmet Deutschland GmbH & Co. OHG.
‘Optimise’ The Fight Against Food Waste
Dr Daniela Büchel, a member of the management board at REWE Group, human resources and sustainability, said, “We expressly welcome the pact initiated by Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir because, even though we have built up a very effective system in the fight against food waste over decades, we would like to further optimise it.
“We will primarily use the remaining amounts through the expansion of cooperation with the food banks and similar facilities – an ambitious goal, in view of an average sales rate of 98% and the already very high level of cooperation between our REWE and Penny stores.”
Aldi plans to act on the principle of ‘avoid – donate – dispose,’ ensuring the responsible handling of returns and training employees in sales outlets.
Responsible Food-Handling
Claudia Kinitz, director of corporate responsibility and quality assurance at Aldi Nord, stated, “With our signature, we once again underline that Aldi takes its ecological and social duties of care seriously. Responsible food-handling is in our discounter DNA.”
Dr Julia Adou, director of sustainability at Aldi Süd, added, “With the target agreement, we are creating even more visibility for the issue of food waste.
“Even though we can already see many positive developments as a result of our intensive measures in recent years, we will not stop here and will exploit further opportunities to save food together with our suppliers and customers in the future.”
For many years, Kaufland and Lidl have implemented measures to reduce food waste.
The measures include close cooperation with suppliers, a needs-based merchandise management system and discounts, customer awareness of food rescue, and passing on the surplus to charities.
Preventing Food Loss
“As a food retailer, we are aware of our responsibility to prevent food loss. We are therefore pleased that the goals we have worked out together with the other members of the dialogue forum over the past few years are now being put into practice with the signing of the Pact Against Food Waste,” said Christoph Graf, purchasing manager at Lidl in Germany.
Jochen Kratz, managing director of Kaufland, south-west region, added, “Food is a valuable commodity that we should show the appreciation it deserves. As a food retailer, together with our employees and other market participants, we have the opportunity every day to change the way we deal with food in a sustainable way – we can only achieve this together.”
Further details about the pact can be found here.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest A-brand news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
