Velt and Pluk worked together with the City of Ghent to prevent food waste in and around the city. Together they founded the project ‘Buurtfruit Gent’. This project saved tons of fruit in Ghent and made local fruit available to everyone in the city. Buurtfruit Gent ensures the prevention of food waste and wants to redistribute this waste to the people.

Buurtfruit Gent wants to limit fruit waste to a minimum in (semi-)public spaces. To this end, Buurtfruit Ghent has undertaken different actions around urban orchards and smaller fruit harvesting sites with a limited number of shrubs or trees:

1. Developing an inventory of all fruit trees and bushes in Ghent’s public and semi-public spaces.
2. Communicating the city policy around harvesting fruit in public areas and inviting Ghent citizens to enjoy their local healthy fruit.
3. Organising joint harvesting moments and workshops where citizens can learn how and when to harvest.

Buurtfruit Gent is a collaboration between Velt, Pluk & the city of Ghent that turned out to be very fruitful:

• 63 places fruit spots were found
• 4000 kg of fruit harvested by Pluk
• 2200 liters of juice made from harvested fruits

45% of fruit and vegetables go to waste along the food supply chain. The food waste warriors of Contronics Dry Mist are a mix of geeky nerds and environment enthusiasts wishing they were as cool as Greta.

Together, they have managed to reproduce a unique natural phenomenon (morning mist occurring in the Salinas Valley, North America). Through ultrasonic vibrations they create a very fine mist of clear water, vaporizing around the fruit and vegetables. The humidity increases, leading to a natural cooling effect. Fruit and vegetables maintain their freshness and quality throughout the chain. Producers won’t need to manipulate the longevity of a vegetable’s life during production, supermarkets won’t need to worry about quality and consumers won’t be condemned to choose between the life or death of either Lucy or Letty Lettuce.

Research conducted by TU Denmark showed that the Dry Mist reduced waste of fruits and vegetables with a whopping 25% throughout the whole food supply chain! 

At the moment, Dry Mist is primarily in use at the end of the chain, the supermarket. Even though they are already decreasing food waste with 25% this way, Dry Misting throughout the chain is the number one goal. Furthermore, they strive to reduce plastic waste. Packaging is a pillar of the food chain, and we need to build around it. Dry Mist provides a natural alternative and makes sure products maintain their freshness even without plastic packaging. To ensure a structural and all-encompassing solution, theywill continue to build our international radius and help build an international food waste network.

With Good Taste, Zero Waste’, Lidl launched a new and innovative approach to reduce their food waste. (‘Bon Appétit, Zéro Gaspi’).

Products reaching the day of expiration are sold at extremely low prices: 

• € 0,20 for dairy and ultra-fresh products (such as salads)
• € 0,50 for fresh meat, fish and baked goods
• dry food, fresh fruits and vegetables are combined in boxes of about 3 kg for € 1

‘Good Taste, Zero Waste’ was rolled out in May 2019 in all stores in Luxembourg. In just 8 months, the amount of food waste reduced by 17,32%! The project already proved to be a recipe for success.

Moreover, Lidl donates the net proceeds of these sales to the Belgian Food Banks. With this financial support, the Belgian Food Banks can invest in the improvement of their organisation, or buy fresh products with a long shelf life for families in need. With Good taste, zero waste, families with financial difficulties can also buy products in the stores at lower prices without the stigmatization of a visit to the Food Banks.

With Good Taste, Zero waste, Lidl sets an ambitious goal of 25% food waste reduction by 2020 (compared to 2015), and 50% reduction by 2025 in Belgium and Luxembourg.