Food waste in Poland
About 9 million tons of food are wasted annually in Poland, and at the same time about 1.6 million people live in extreme poverty, the Federation of Polish Food Banks reported. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the problem.
In fact, the number of people in need of free food in Poland could be even greater, reaching 5-6 million.
The charity of the Catholic Church regularly helps nearly 50,000 people who receive food or meals at Caritas centers. In 2017 and 2018, Caritas Pantry provided over 2,600 tons of food to those in need. In 2019, the amount of food distributed exceeded 5,000 tons.
diverese initiatives
Social stores are another idea. It is a special place where, with a certain "referral" from a local social authority, people can buy products with short expire date at prices below their market value. Only persons and families in a difficult life situation are entitled to do shopping in the social stores. The store takes care also of the dignity of those people using its services, therefore they still have to pay a small amount for purchases.
Smaller stores, wholesalers and manufacturers also have a certain amount of goods that cannot be sold at the standard price. Therefore it is better to drastically lower the price and gain at least a part of the capital. This is how Food Oultet works, which has become an "Allegro near term" platform. Their clients are, for example, companies offering diets in boxes. Their customers eat their meals through dietary catering. Other recipients are companies like canteens, wedding sales, catering companies, hospitals.
Smaller stores, wholesalers and manufacturers also have a certain amount of goods that cannot be sold at the standard price. Therefore it is better to drastically lower the price and gain at least a part of the capital. This is how Food Oultet works, which has become an "Allegro near term" platform. Their clients are, for example, companies offering diets in boxes. Their customers eat their meals through dietary catering. Other recipients are companies like canteens, wedding sales, catering companies, hospitals.
food waste prevention act
Interestingly, as from the February 2020 large food chains are obliged by the Act on preventing food waste in Poland. The act applies to stores above 250 sq m, where at least 50% of the total sales is food. The idea of the act is that on the moment vegetables are wilted or the packaging of the product is damaged, and it the expiry date exeeds soon, such food should be brought to the non-governmental organizations dealing with food waste to distribute it further to other receivers of the food.
Next to the new law imposed by governments, various other initiatives are emerging to lower food waste in Poland. Big discount chains - like Lidl and Biedronka - have introduced special refrigerators with 50% discounted food, which are approaching it’s expiry date.
According to data from the Federation of Polish Food Banks, each Pole statistically waste 247 kg food, while on average it is 173 kg per EU inhabitant. This gives Poland the fifth place in the European Union among countries wasting food the most. 42% Poles admitted throwing food away. Poles throw away bread (49% of indications), fruit (46%), meats (45%), vegetables (37%), yoghurts (27%), potatoes (17%), milk (12%) ). The main reason for food waste in Poland is the expire data has run out –it is responsible for 29% food losses. Other reasons include too much shopping (20%), too large portions of meals (15%), buying a poor-quality product (15%) and improper food purchases (13%).
Source: PAP / Money.pl/ Calisia.pl