Some Figures

From farmer to consumer, each link in the food chain is marked by losses.

In total, nearly 3.6 million tons of food are wasted each year in Belgium! (Source: FAO)

The consumer is responsible for 42% of the waste because they buy more food than they actually need. Production companies are responsible for 39% of the overall waste. Finally, restaurants and distributors contribute 14% and 5% of these losses respectively. (Source: FAO)

At the same time, requests for food aid continue to increase; today more than 240,000 people directly depend on food aid for their daily needs.

An Important Lever

Food companies, like all merchants, are required to comply with a binding legislative framework and respect the hygiene and food safety standards of the FASFC. For example, they must ensure that the cold chain for fresh products is maintained, and many products, such as fish, shellfish, or fresh pastries, are subject to very precise sanitary regulations.

However, food companies represent an important lever to influence their customers’ behavior by communicating an active anti-waste policy within their establishments. They also have significant logistics and stock, and can therefore practice food donation more easily than individuals.

The Bourse aux dons therefore presents itself as an effective management tool to allow food companies to transfer their donations to food aid actors in a transparent and secure manner.