EU Food Loss and Waste Prevention Hub

The findings come from the annual survey initiated by the Food Waste Free United Foundation and the Dutch Food Retail Association (CBL) which was conducted by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) based on self-reporting by supermarkets: Albert Heijn, Aldi, DekaMarkt, Dirk, Jumbo, Lidl, Picnic and PLUS. Together they cover approximately 85% of the Dutch market. HelloFresh also provided data.

Minister Wiersma says she is pleased to see that food waste in retail is decreasing. "Our farmers, fishermen, and horticulturists work incredibly hard every day to put the highest quality food on our plates. Every kilo that we unnecessarily throw away is one too many; food waste is a downside of our prosperity, and there are still many people in the world who cannot afford that. Therefore, combating food waste deserves our utmost attention.”

For results by product group, please consult enclosed infographic

Toine Timmermans, Director of the Food Waste Free United Foundation is delighted with this positive development: "We are really seeing an acceleration in the reduction of food waste in retail. That is largely related to the goals being targeted by supermarkets on reducing their own footprint. This was partly prompted by recently introduced legislation such as the CSRD Directive, which requires them to report on their social and environmental impact. Hopefully, this will allow them to set an example for other sectors."

The reduction is the result of supermarkets actively focusing on the categories of ‘bread & pastries’ and ‘fresh meat & fresh fish’. For some years, supermarkets have been pushing to sell all their bread, for example by selling yesterday's bread at a discounted price. This led to a 16% reduction compared with 2022. Despite this achievement, however, this product category still has the biggest losses.
The focus is also on reducing waste of 'fresh meat and fresh fish' by better stock management. Because meat production has a relatively high ecological footprint, it is even more unfortunate if it goes to waste. This resulted in a 37% reduction compared with 2022.