Branded Food & Beverage Service Chains Association

Fighting food waste together

29 September 2020 - Today, Serving Europe celebrates the first ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, instigated by the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO). We fully support the aim of focusing the world’s attention on the need to cut food waste and to bolster efforts to ensure that everyone has access to safe, affordable food. This is an environmental and economic challenge that requires the attention and concerted action not just of governments but also of the different actors in the food chain and consumers.

FAO celebrates its first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.


Serving tens of millions of meals, snacks and beverages every day, the branded food and beverage service chains affiliated in Serving Europe work hard to minimise food waste, not only in their outlets but also by working closely with their supply chains. By optimising their operational processes, Serving Europe companies have typically managed to keep food losses under 5%. This is front-running performance in the foodservice sector in Europe (which also includes classic restaurants and cafes, contract catering operations, and small independent quick service outlets).

Nearly 90 million tonnes of food are thought to be lost per year in the European Union. Serving Europe welcomes the commitment of the European Commission to halve this by 2030 in its May 2020 Farm to Fork Strategy. It is important, however, that any measures taken to reach this objective are fair and take account of the efforts already made by our sector. Serving Europe looks forward to constructive dialogue with the EU institutions on effective paths forward.



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