The Dialogue Forum Public Launch Postponed to Autumn 2020, Internal Meeting Takes Place Virtually @BMEL In the light of the latest developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CSCP will host a virtual meeting for the participants of the Dialogue Forum for Reduction of Food Waste in Wholesale and Retail (HandelsforumRVL) on 21 April 2020. The public event, during which the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Julia Klöckner was planned to officially launch the Dialogue Forum in Berlin, is rescheduled for autumn 2020. A major objective of the original event – the identification of effective reduction measures in the wholesale and retail sectors – will take place virtually. Selected proposals, stemming from an earlier call for ideas, will be presented in the format of video pitches, whereas the discussion regarding their plausibility as demonstration projects will be held online. If you are interested in participating in the discussion, please get in contact with Nora Brüggemann. As the Dialogue Forum continues its work remotely, the public event rescheduled for autumn 2020 aims to carry forth the original public agenda. This includes presenting the objective of the Dialogue Forum — the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal SDG 12.3 that aims to halve food waste in the wholesale and retail sectors. The event will also provide a large-scale opportunity for exchange between relevant stakeholders, including wholesalers and retailers as well as representatives of the food supply chain and civil society actors. The Dialogue Forum is part of a federal agenda whose goal is significant reduction of food waste along the entire food supply chain by 2030. To this end, the strategic role of the wholesale and retail sectors in reducing food waste has been increasingly foregrounded. On one hand, wholesale and retail companies can continue to exploit the existing optimisation potential in their own markets. On the other hand, being a direct ‘bridge to the consumers’ as well as an interface to food production, retail companies in particular can work in both directions towards a more responsible handling of food in society. The CSCP coordinates and moderates the Dialogue Forum (HandelsforumRVL) in collaboration with the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut and in line with the National Strategy for Reducing Food Waste. The Dialogue Forum, which started work in autumn 2019, is funded by 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. For more information please contact Nora Brüggemann. Photo by Lewis Fagg on Unsplash