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 verify it by an external entity.
Around one-third of all food produced worldwide is wasted; more than 1.3 billion tonnes of food are not reused every year; the FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) also estimates that more than 820 million people are hungry or malnourished.
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 how 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 have the same nutritional value as the products we sell in our stores. So, instead of being discarded in the fields, this food is integrated into the value chain. These “ugly” vegetables are used, for example, in the soups we prepare in Portugal and Poland or are processed into convenience foods, such as ready-to-use vegetables. “Ugly” fruit and vegetables are also sold at discount prices at Recheio stores, particularly 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.
Roasted chicken that is not sold but still is suitable for consumption is shredded and used for pizzas, salads and sandwiches sold at the takeaway counter or in trays as shredded chicken. Suckling pig meat is also shredded and used for sandwiches.
To prevent waste in stores and consumers’ homes, large fruit (such as melon, watermelon, cantaloupe melon, papaya and pineapple) is cut in half, enabling customers to purchase only the desired quantity. In the case of Pingo Doce and Recheio Private Brands, the packaging and portion sizes are being adjusted to what people actually consume to reduce wastage.
In 2020, Pingo Doce launched the book Zero Waste at the Table, encouraging consumers to reuse leftovers and improve how they store and conserve food and interpret before-by dates. The magazine Sabe Bem, available at Pingo Doce stores, provides tips and recipes, also shared on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Biedronka publishes the 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, mainly 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. We prioritise organisations that work with the elderly, children and underprivileged young people.
Biedronka’s food donation programme was launched in 2016 and exceeded initial expectations, with half of the chain’s stores getting involved in the project a year earlier than anticipated. 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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