We aim to halve the food waste generated by our operations and supply chains by 2030, a commitment that is in line with the Responsible Consumption and Production target (12.3) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, we are committed to efficient food management, the use of ugly fruit and vegetables, and the donation of food surpluses.
We also ensure the accounting and monitoring of this commitment. We were the first retailer in Portugal to measure and publicly disclose our food waste footprint, and to have it verified by an external entity.
Around one third of all food produced in the world is wasted. This means that, every year, more than 1.3 billion tonnes of food are not reused. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also estimates that nearly 830 million people are hungry or undernourished.
As food specialists, we know that providing fresh food with the quality our customers deserve means taking extra care with waste – these products are more sensitive to temperature, shelf life and the way they are handled and transported. We believe that the strategy to tackle this problem involves everyone along the value chain, from primary production and industry to our employees, consumers and the communities served by our stores.
We buy non-standard fruit and vegetables which, instead of being discarded in the fields, are integrated into the value chain, because their nutritional value is the same as that of the produce we sell in our stores. These “ugly” vegetables are used, for example, in the soups we make in Portugal and Poland or are processed into convenience foods, such as ready-to-use prepared vegetables. “Ugly” fruit and vegetables are also sold at discount prices at Recheio stores, in particular fruit, and Jerónimo Martins Agro-Alimentar incorporates these fruit and vegetables into cattle and goat feed.
At Biedronka and Pingo Doce, we sell food products that are close to their best-before date at discount prices to encourage customers to buy them before they become waste. We are also committed to making it easier to manage the expiration dates of food products so that consumers can quickly understand both the best-before and use-by dates after opening.
Leftover roast chicken and suckling pig meat are incorporated into various products, such as pizzas, salads and sandwiches, and sold at the Pingo Doce takeaway counter. The sale of salmon heads at discounted prices at the Pingo Doce fish counters also helps prevent food waste. Larger fruit, such as melons, watermelons, cantaloupes, papayas and pineapples, are cut into halves, which allows a smaller quantity to be purchased.
In 2020, Pingo Doce launched the book Desperdício Zero à Mesa (Zero Waste at the Table), encouraging consumers to reuse leftovers and to improve how they store and conserve food and interpret expiration dates. The magazine Sabe Bem (Tastes Good), available at Pingo Doce stores, provides tips and recipes that are also shared on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram. Biedronka publishes quarterly magazine Czas Na… (Time For…), with 120 recipes per issue and an average print run of 200,000 copies. The recipes are also shared on social media, particularly on Facebook.
Surpluses that meet safety standards but can no longer be sold – because they are close to their sell-by date, for example – are donated to charities in Portugal, Poland and Colombia, first and foremost to organisations that work with the elderly, children and underprivileged young people.
Biedronka’s food donation programme was launched in 2016 and has exceeded initial expectations, with half of the chain’s stores getting involved in the project a year earlier than anticipated at launch. In Portugal, food is donated through the Pingo Doce and Recheio chains, while in Colombia the project started simultaneously with the launch of Ara, in 2013.
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