ΓΕΥΣΗΝΟΥΣ ΑΒΕΕ

With the main goal of reducing, but also preventing food waste in the catering industry, Gefsinus, one of the largest catering companies in Greece, and WWF Hellas joined forces and know-how to implement a program with innovative practices, the " Food Providers, Food Waste Fighters ”.
 

All the companies that are active in the catering sector in Greece.
 

December 2020- January 2022

The program focused on two pillars: the collection of quantitative data on food waste and the training of employees to change the current situation. The ultimate goal was to create a practical guide to reducing waste in catering that could be used by other companies in the industry in various European countries through the WWF network and setting realistic and measurable targets to calculate the total volume of food waste and targeted waste reduction actions carried out with the active participation of the staff.
 

WWF Hellas

WWF Hellas in collaboration with Gefsinus, designed training materials based on the needs of Gefsinus employees and conducted training workshops with the aim of adopting good practices to reduce food waste within the company. This training material was used to gradually train all company staff.
 

The implementation of the energy took place initially at the headquarters of the company in Kryoneri and at selected points of activity. The methodology and actions to reduce food waste were adopted by the whole organization Gefsinus in all points of activity.

The result of the cooperation of WWF Hellas and Gefsinus, is the practical guide of WWF for catering companies and companies of the wider industry that seek to develop a strategy of food management from order to serving and consumption of food. The guide is accessible to the general public and includes a tried and tested methodology for recording waste, targeting and implementing measures (food waste sorting and measurement system, program implementation steps, adopting good practices), as well as a staff training and customer information mechanism, on the issue of food waste as produced under the program. Overall, the driver is an important tool in combating catering waste.

Gefsinus calculated the total volume of food waste and took action to reduce waste with the active participation of staff. In the context of the results, it is worth mentioning that Gefsinus produces daily about 49,000 portions of food and 12 million meals per year, while maintaining points of sale in 72 companies (banks, telecommunications companies, etc.), 29 educational institutions and 8 hospitals. During the measurements carried out in July 2021 at three points of activity of Gefsinus by WWF Hellas, it was found that in the places where meals are prepared on the spot, the largest percentage (46%) of waste is done during the cleaning of fruits and vegetables. In addition, it was found that the least waste was found in meals containing meat and fish (about 2%), while the highest percentage of waste was found in meals containing pasta (28%) and legumes (30%). Finally, based on the blankets per customer and the meals produced per point daily, it was found that Gefsinus has managed to minimize the final waste of meals by only 2% of the total meals daily.