PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 29 June 2016
Every Meal Matters
European food banks and business organisations join forces to promote food
donation
FEBA (European Federation of Food Banks), FoodDrinkEurope and EuroCommerce launched this
morning a new guide to encourage and make it easier for food manufacturers and retailers to donate
their food surpluses to food banks.
With around 88 million tonnes of food wasted annually in the EU, preventing waste in the food chain
is a key priority for food and drink manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers.
The new guidelines give practical and straightforward answers to questions that businesses wanting
to donate food have, such as ‘Which surplus food can we donate’?, ‘Can I donate food that has passed
its ‘best before’ date?, ‘Who can I donate to?’ or ‘Which info on my food donations do I need to
document’?
“We need to recover more nutritious food to support more vulnerable people and better. I hope than
an increasing number of food businesses will adopt those guidelines and engage with our food banks
to take proactive steps to support those experiencing poverty”, declared Patrick Alix, Secretary
General of FEBA.
Mella Frewen, Director-General of FoodDrinkEurope, said: “Of course, we need to tackle the root
causes of food waste first and foremost, all along the food chain. However, when food surpluses do
occur, we all agree they should be redistributed as much as possible to food banks. With these very
practical guidelines, we are simply turning our words into action and encouraging more food
companies to best use their surpluses.“
“We are all committed to making sure that wholesome and nutritious food is not wasted. Not only do
our members donate to food banks and other social organisations; many of them help food banks and
charity organisations with logistics,” Christian Verschueren, Director-General of EuroCommerce
added. “These very useful guidelines show how best to donate food, and many examples of good
practice. We hope that these will inspire others to follow the path many retailers and wholesalers have
already adopted.”
The joint guidelines contribute to the ongoing EU and global policy discussions on food waste
prevention and stimulating the circular economy. They are also part of the initiating
organisations’ strong commitment and ongoing efforts to supporting the implementation of the UN
Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 to halve food waste by 2030.
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1 FoodDrinkEurope is the organisation of Europe’s food and drink industry, the largest manufacturing sector and
employer in the EU.
2 FEBA is the European Federation of Food Banks, with 265 food banks in 23 countries, serving 2.9Mil meals/day.
3 EuroCommerce is the principal European organisation representing the retail and wholesale sector, the largest
private sector employer in the EU.
For further information, please contact:
Neil McMillan - +32 2 737 05 99 - [email protected]
EuroCommerce
EuroCommerce is the principal European organisation representing the retail and wholesale sector. It embraces national
associations in 31 countries and 5.4 million companies, both leading multinational retailers such as Carrefour, Ikea, Metro
and Tesco and many small family operations. Retail and wholesale provide a link between producers and 500 million
European consumers over a billion times a day. It generates 1 in 7 jobs, providing a varied career for 29 million Europeans,
many of them young people. It also supports millions of further jobs throughout the supply chain, from small local suppliers
to international businesses. EuroCommerce is the recognised European social partner for the retail and wholesale sector.
http://www.eurocommerce.eu