HandelsforumRLV National Dialogue Forum for Reduction of Food Waste in Wholesale and Retail Industry From field to fork, about one third of the food that is produced for human consumption is lost worldwide. The World Food Organization estimates that yearly 1.3 billion tons of food are not consumed. In Germany, about eleven million tons of food ended up as waste in 2015, equalling more than one year of the food demand of Switzerland. One of the clearly defined goals of the German Government is to see a significant reduction in food waste along the food supply chain by 2030. Taking into consideration the quantity of food wasted and lost along with the ethical, social, economic and ecological implications, it is important that all actors of society put in the required effort to achieve this goal. In order to jointly implement effective measures, the Federal Government has developed the National Strategy for Reducing Food Waste. In this context, the handelsforumRLV represented from 2019-2022 the “National Dialogue Forum for Reduction of Food Waste in Wholesale and Retail Industry” (Dialogforum des Groß- und Einzelhandels zur Reduzierung von Lebensmittelverschwendung). Wholesale and retail trade are being granted special importance with regard to the reduction of food waste: on one hand, companies can continue to exploit existing optimisation potential in their own markets. On the other hand, being a direct “bridge to the consumer” and an interface to food production, retailers can work in both directions towards improvements and promote the appreciation and more responsible handling of food in society. Building upon its extensive experience in multi-stakeholder engagement and its previous work in the REFRESH project, the CSCP coordinated and moderated the handelsforumRLV, focusing on the reduction of food waste in the wholesale and retail industry in Germany. In support of the German government’s goal to significantly reduce food waste along the supply chain by 2030, the Dialogue Forum had a mandate to map the reduction of food waste, set relevant targets up to 2030, develop suitable formats for implementation and monitoring, and to agree on these in the form of a target agreement. During the course of the project, the 23 participating companies have engaged on many levels and achieved numerous results, including the following: Implementing more than 202 food waste prevention and reduction measures. In so-called demonstration projects, three measures were scientifically evaluated with regard to their efficiency and effectiveness. Collecting relevant food waste data. Working with food banks, food sharing or local organisations to redistribute food that is still edible. Preparing a voluntary target agreement in support towards SDG 12.3. A final report reviewed the achievements of the 23 involved companies. The prepared voluntary target agreement has since been been signed by the German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), and high-level representatives of 14 retail and wholesale companies from Germany on 27 June 2023 in Berlin – please read further details here. The signatories from the wholesale and retail sectors not only commit individually to reduce their own food waste by 50% by 2030 and 30% by 2025 respectively, they also commit to support food waste reduction at the interfaces with their suppliers, customers, and redistribution organisations. It is foreseen in the pact that a minimum of eight elective measures chosen from a catalogue of actions must be implemented annually. By loading the video, you agree to Vimeo's privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock Vimeo By loading the video, you agree to Vimeo's privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock Vimeo By loading the video, you agree to Vimeo's privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock Vimeo The dialogue forum was carried out by the CSCP in collaboration with the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut. The project was supported by funds of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) based on a decision of the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany via the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) under the Federal Program for Ecological Farming and Other Forms of Sustainable Agriculture.