Faced with the magnitude of food waste caused in part by the agri-food industry, public authorities have enacted legislation, leading to the development of numerous start-ups. In order to encourage the retail sector and consumers to take anti-food waste measures, entrepreneurs have taken initiatives.

Legislation Against Food Waste

Since February 2016, under pressure from social networks, a law mandates supermarkets to distribute unsold but still consumable food to accredited associations. These establishments establish a collection organization agreement with them. At the European level, where food waste is estimated at 89 million tonnes, or 180 kg per inhabitant per year, members of the Environment Committee aim to reduce it by 30% by 2025 and by 50% by 2030, compared to 2014.

What is the Importance of Reducing Food Waste?

• Environmental concern: Globally, food waste emits significant greenhouse gases.
• Economic concern: Food waste is costly. In France, nearly 20% of food produced ends up in the trash every year. This represents 150 kg of food per person per year, wasted throughout the food chain from producer to consumer, amounting to €16 billion and 15 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or 3% of the national activity’s greenhouse gas emissions.
• Ethical and social concern: Discarding food is even more unacceptable considering that, in France, it is estimated that 1 in 10 people struggle to feed themselves.

Network and Anti-Food Waste Efforts

As a result, many companies like Foodwe and many others specializing in food waste reduction have emerged by connecting producers and distributors. These platforms encourage professionals and individuals to donate food by fostering a network of mutual assistance.

The Belgian start-up Foodwe, targeting charitable organizations and professionals, thus collects unsold products or those past the sell-by date and offers them to distributors via its website. These commendable initiatives benefit from a local network aimed at reducing food waste.

In France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, numerous start-ups aim to reduce waste, which experts estimate affects more than 89 million tonnes of food each year throughout Europe. The start-up OptiMiam works in favor of local businesses by offering surplus food from supermarkets located in the same geographical area.

Innovative Anti-Food Waste Ideas

The transformation and enhancement of food benefit new businesses. The young start-up LeCamionQuiFume, inspired by the Californian business model, offers revamped dishes. An application by the start-up TrackTheTruck has even been developed to geolocate all food truck locations.

To maintain a viable economic model, start-ups also propose to sell these products at lower costs. This allows savings of nearly 60% on the retail price in supermarkets. The Breton start-up Zéro-Gâchis or the crowdfunding platform KissKissBankBank or the website JustoClic recover food items that have exceeded their consumption deadline to offer them to individuals and associations. Smartway (formerly Zéro-Gâchis), one of the pioneers in the fight against waste, created in 2012, initially offered consumers promotions (from 50 to 70% off the retail price) on products close to their expiration date. Smartway now develops artificial intelligence, a decision-making assistant that directs each short-dated product to the best channel (food donation or promotional sale).

The start-up JustoClic

The start-up JustoClic thus offers discounted prices and regular deals to individuals who want to pay less for products recovered from unsold food. Geolocation and offers updated by several restaurants allow consumers to take away their leftovers, thus avoiding losses for professionals.

The Checkfood Application

Many mobile applications have emerged, such as Checkfood, which connects individuals with professionals to alert them in real-time to low-cost food distribution. The Checkfood application is very easy to use. Checkfood allows you to scan the barcode of your product and indicate the expiration date. The application categorizes the products: “fridge” foods and “pantry” foods. Once your products are entered, Checkfood shows you on the home screen how much time is left before the food expires. When a product reaches the deadline, the application sends you a push message to notify you and offers you two choices: consume this food or donate it to an association (such as food banks, Emmaus, etc.). Thanks to geolocation, Checkfood shows you the nearest association to you!

The Too Good To Go Application

Launched in June 2016 in Lille and Paris, Too Good To Go is a mobile application (iOS and Android) and a website. Its principle is simple: to connect users with merchants to fight against waste by allowing them to buy, at very reduced prices, the unsold items of the day. Buyers benefit from a 50 to 80% reduction compared to the base price. The startup has succeeded in becoming a reference on this issue and has involved more than 15,000 merchants in France and 60,000 worldwide.