10 million tons per year: that is the weight of food waste each year in France. 18% of food production for human consumption ends up in the trash and we are all responsible: whether it is where it is produced or at home, we need to reduce waste! Zoom on Bonduelle’s best practices to value 100% of its vegetables and do your part at home!
The right reflexes
Buy the right quantity, manage best by dates properly… Whether from the consumer or the producer’s side, these are habits which need to evolve to change things. Explain the number of portions on packagings as Bonduelle is doing on its tags which allows to adjust the quantity purchased. Differentiating between shelf-life, use-by date and best by date allows to consumer products at the right moment to avoid them ending up in the garbage for excess of caution! Packaging leftovers properly (tupperwear, cealed bags) is the key to make longer use of them in the kitchen: mashed vegetable leftover fritters, pesto, soup or pastries for leftover salads, pea pods finding a second life and other peels turning into delicious dishes, there are so many recipes to try!
What about for farmers?
Using 100% of harvested vegetables: that is the goal set by Bonduelle. Yet sometimes, vegetables don’t reach your plate: as soon as we produce food or perishable products under strict controls, it is normal to lose some. Then, how can we limit waste?
Some unclassified products become part of other recipes in the form of small pieces as we do at home! Parts of inedible vegetables or those deemed non-compliant to the norm are transformed into compost: that way what is made by the earth returns to the earth to fertilise it. Thus, each month, 5 tons of products are turned into compost at the Saint-Benoist-sur-Vanne factory. Other factories work with partner companies to transform vegetable peels in energy for biogaz. It comes full circle from the field to the plate!