Company says all of its European divisions will be involved in projects to prevent loss and waste by 2025
Italian multinational Gruppo Orsero says it is working on several different fronts to combat food waste in its fresh produce supply chains.
According to research cited by the company, fruit and vegetables are the food category responsible for the largest amount of waste in its home market, ahead of milk and yoghurt, and fresh bread.
“The fight against food waste is the core of the Orsero Group’s Strategic Sustainability Plan,” the group said in a statement. “It is a theme that has impacts on all four strategy areas – the value of people, responsible supply chains, healthy and sustainable nutrition, and impact on the planet. Above all, it involves every player along the fruit and vegetable supply chain, from the farmer to the final consumer.”
For Orsero, the main challenge is to donate or recover an even greater percentage of what can no longer be sold.
It claims to have saved more than 6,675 tonnes of produce in 2023, a figure that apparently equates to almost 7m portions of donated fruit and vegetables, for a cost equivalent of more than €1.5m.
It also says it has recovered over 5,600 tonnes of product destined for supply chains other than human nutrition.
Prevention and reduction
The group has launched several projects to prevent loss and reduce waste, and plans to involve all of its companies across Europe by 2025.
A total of 18 out of 25 currently play an active role, including Hermanos Fernández López in Spain, Eurofrutas in Portugal, and Fruttital in Italy.
The latter recently began to recover avocados that are no longer marketable or fit for human consumption, and turn them into avocado oil.
Meanwhile, Orsero has established a partnership with the European Food Banks Federation to redistribute unsold produce in all countries where it is active.
Sunday 29 September is designated as the UN’s International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.
