Food waste is in the spotlight, and between physical store chains, e-commerce and food tech solutions, new initiatives to take concrete steps to reduce it are becoming more and more diverse, some of them even before preservation and, therefore, before vacuum sealing. From companies to individuals, everyone is trying to do their bit. The results seem to confirm this when, according to the 2022 data of the Waste Watcher International Observatory, Italy is among the most virtuous countries with its 595.3 grams of wasted food per capita per week, compared to 836 in Spain, 949 in England, up to 1,453 in the United States. But much more can be done... how? Let's start by being inspired and following the example of these Italian start-ups.
Not your usual greengrocer shop, where you just buy and leave. At Bella Dentro in Milan, everything is different: you can stop and read the information on the walls, where the entire fresh produce chain is illustrated, while the young and proactive staff, like the two founders Camilla Archi and Luca Bolognesi, born in 1988, are ready to tell you where every broccoli, radish or orange has been rescued from likely ending in the dustbin. Their mantra is "down with waste": in their wooden crates you will find produce that is excellent but was discarded by the big retailers because it does not meet the classic aesthetic canons of beauty. Even the tables here are reclaimed, made from recycled plastic from fridges and disposable cutlery. You can also buy long-life products such as jams, dried products and fruit juices, at the virtual e-commerce "counters".
Have you ever heard of the Food Sharing for Charity model? It consists of linking companies and non-profit organisations to manage food (and non-food) stocks that would otherwise go to waste. Acting as a intermediary is Regusto, which in turn comes from the Perugia-based start-up Recuperiamo s.r.l., founded by Marco Raspati and Paolo Rellini. It uses blockchain technology to optimise the product donation and sales processes, while also generating statistics, reports and impact indices. The Spesasospesa project — a sustainable and solidarity-based model based on food donations and product recovery developed by the non-profit organisation Lab 00 — uses Regusto to connect large retail companies and charities, facilitating the purchase of food within the expiry date, leaving the companies free to negotiate prices with the organisations.
"Long live the food" is the motto of this start-up company that uses e-commerce to put back on the market packaged food products that have been rejected by the large retailers because they are too close to their sell-by date, have defects (even packaging with graphics that are no longer produced) or are end-of-stock. And it does this by going directly to the source, i.e. to the producers. The benefits are twofold: the company reduces its waste disposal costs, eliminates the wholesale channel and also improves its reputation; the consumer benefits by buying products at discounts of between 20 and 70%. In the Bestbefore e-commerce section you can choose what you like from the sweet and savoury pantry, but you can also choose anti-waste or multi-pack boxes, which are pre-packed and even more convenient (including vegan and gluten-free options). And what’s left over can always be vacuum-sealed!
Imperfections in the skin, too big or too small, different shapes from the usual ones, or simply overproduction. These are some of the "defects but not defects" of the seasonal fruit and vegetables you can find in Babaco's boxes, some of which come from small producers and Slow Food Presidia, and were rejected by supermarkets because they did not meet their standards. To save on packaging, the products are packed in bulk. Launched during the pandemic and founded by Francesco Giberti and Luca Masseretti, the service is growing (it has recently received a further round of funding and is aiming to go international) and is currently active in around 500 towns in Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany and Veneto. The subscription is weekly or fortnightly, and can be cancelled at any time.
Here we get to the heart of food tech. This young start-up from Turin is tackling food waste in an innovative way: it transforms unsold fruit and vegetable by-products into a vegetable film that preserves the freshness and extends the shelf life of perishable foods such as peaches, strawberries and apricots. Agree NET is an excellent example of circular economy that also helps agri-food companies in Piedmont to manage their waste.
