On 7 June, a draft law was approved in Spain which provides for fines to be imposed on companies in the production and distribution chain for unnecessary food waste. The amount of these fines ranges from 2,000 to 60,000€. This law is to be presented to the parliament in Madrid this month and will then come into force at the beginning of 2023.
In Spain, 1.36 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year - equivalent to about 30 kilograms per capita. Now, as a pioneer for the EU, Spain is tackling this problem through legislation. For example, under the bill, restaurants will be required to offer diners the option of taking home uneaten food and major food companies will be encouraged to develop plans to tackle the current mismanagement. Supermarkets will also be encouraged to reduce the prices of goods that will soon reach their best-before date.
Compared to Spain, even more food is thrown away in this country. To clarify the situation, here are three concise facts:
These figures clearly show the need for action at national level. The first action plans of the Ministry of Climate Protection already exist, which envisage the reduction of food waste by 30% in the areas of trade, out-of-home consumption and private households by 2025. Subsequently, a reduction of 50% is to be achieved by 2030.
It seems only a matter of time before measures similar to those in Spain are introduced in Germany.
First politicians, such as Thuringia's Minister of Agriculture Susanna Karawanskij, are already calling for such regulations. In her opinion, there is not so much a production problem as a distribution problem when it comes to food. For this reason, she insists on legal measures that oblige retailers to donate food to social projects instead of throwing it away.
However, the current waste problem is also motivating more and more food retail chains, such as Tegut or Metro, which see a possible approach to achieving these goals in methods that integrate artificial intelligence. For example, Tegut uses the software "Predecy", which enables targeted price reductions based on sales figures and information about expiry dates that will soon be reached. On the other hand, the research project "Appetite", in which Fraunhofer Austria Research, the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and the Metro retail chain are collaborating, is working on a prevention-oriented tool. The goal is to be able to make accurate forecasts based on various internal and external company data in order to prevent potential waste before it even occurs.
This is exactly Delicious Data's approach: thanks to our artificial intelligence, we have been able to achieve a reduction in avoidable food waste of around 30% for our clients. By using accurate forecasts, fewer resources are needed and food waste is reduced at the same time. Thus, a significant contribution can be made to achieving the German government's greenhouse gas reduction target, while at the same time enforcing the BMEL's legal requirements to avoid food waste. In addition, with the help of the daily planner, the use of goods can be forecast granularly over the course of the day, so that products are always fresh and available in the required quantity without overproduction or sell-outs.
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