Food waste

We want food to be enjoyed till the last bite. So we join forces along the supply chain against wasting food.

We know that gastronomers want their customers to indulge in their culinary delights till the last bite. In the same way we want our customers to value food as much as we do. Seeing food wasted in the process is a waste of time, effort, money and other valuable resources along the whole supply chain back to the origin of food. That’s why METRO joins forces against wasting food along the supply chain. We want our customers to benefit from solutions that save resources and costs and do good at the same time.

In September 2019 METRO joined the 10x20x30 initiative of the World Resource Institute. Within this initiative at least 10 of the world’s largest food retailers and providers follow the “Target-Measure-Act” approach, meaning that each engages 20 of their priority suppliers to do the same – thereby halving their food loss and waste by 2030.Together with participating businesses we share the mission to massively increase private sector contribution to the global goal of reducing food loss and waste by 50% by 2030 by catalyzing efforts “up” the supply chain.

Another example is our cooperation with Too Good To Go (TGTG). The company provides a platform to sell surplus food that otherwise goes to waste in a specially branded bag (the Magic Bag) at reduced prices. It operates an app that allows food waste fighting end-consumers e.g. in the Netherlands to buy unsold food from participating METRO stores.

The TGTG partnership also includes a customer referral model. METRO sales force teams in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Poland are able to propose the digital solution to HoReCa and trader customers to use in their operations. By promoting TGTG we want to connect our customers with the food waste fighter community to reduce food waste together and increase their reputation and community impact.

In the 17 stores of MAKRO Netherland within one year (Oct 2019-Oct 2020) 46.891 meals have been saved, an equivalent of 117.227 kg CO2. [graphic]

Since January 2018, METRO partners with Wholesurplus in Turkey, to tackle the challenge of food waste reduction in own operations there. Wholesurplus offers a holistic business solution which includes a digital platform to manage food waste inventory in accordance to the food waste hierarchy based on real time data analytics as well as a unique marketplace for redistribution and donation. The starting situation in Turkey called for urgent action because up to 80% of food that cannot be sold ended up in landfill, which means it is lost to feed people. By using the digital marketplace our stores can easily give edible food to food banks, social institutions, animal shelters, or even to the animal feed production industry. In addition, the data analysis function lets them quantify and monitor food waste transparently in real time enabling them to implement targeted measures to further improve their operational processes.

Moreover, METRO has collaborated with the ‘Tafel’ (food bank) movement for more than 2 decades to provide people in need with food that is still of impeccable quality despite an approaching best-before date.

We are also steadily expanding the collaboration on an international scale and partner with the European Federation of Food Banks (Fédération Européenne des Banques Alimentaires, FEBA).

A complementary solution to our long lasting partnership with food banks is our cooperation with SirPlus. Excess food and beverages from our wholesale stores, which can no longer be sold and also not donated to food banks for different reasons, can be sold online as well as in the SIRPLUS branches at a reduced price in Berlin.

By working together with KITRO we can offer METRO customers in the hotel and restaurant sector a fully automated solution that uses hardware and software to help reduce food waste by measuring and analysing food waste. The software provides a data overview of weight and shows the cost of food waste. It supports the user to identify the different sources of waste, eliminate operational inefficiencies and use resources more efficiently.

Since October 2019, METRO AG has been a partner of Matsmart, a Swedish start-up that directly buys surplus food from B2B businesses and resells it at reduced prices to consumers, contributing to food waste mitigation. METRO currently supports Matsmart’s market entry in Germany primarily with know-how.

Upstream in our supply chains many fresh foods spoil due to climatic conditions, like extreme heat or improper storage. METRO has set up properly climate-controlled ‘food collection points’ in rural areas, such as in India, to reduce post-harvest losses. Easily perishable food now reaches the stores in 8 hours instead of 36 hours and farmers receive ongoing training on topics such as crop protection, post-harvest technology or nutrition management to further increase the amount of food that reaches the consumer from farm to fork.