FOR A #NOWASTE HORECA BUSINESS: Companies, Universities, Institutions and Non-Profits together against food waste in Horeca. Vademecum from METRO Italia, in collaboration with METRO Academy, APCI, Banco Alimentare, Sant'Anna School and the On. Gadda
“The other half of food, the Vademecum for a #nowaste restaurant” was presented in Milan, as part of Host, the international hospitality fair. It is a practical tool born from the collaboration of METRO Italia with APCI (Professional Association of Italian Chefs), Banco Alimentare, Sant’Anna School (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna) and with the support of on. Maria Chiara Gadda, promoter of law 166/2016, created to reduce waste along the agri-food chain.
“As a 360 ° partner io Horeca, for us at METRO Italia it is essential to guarantee the sustainability of our customers' business at all levels”, says Nicolò Picco, head of commercial strategy METRO Italia. "We constantly strive to devise practical solutions that allow them to better manage their business. Also the vademecum goes in this direction, but it wants to have an extra boost. Maximizing food cost, improving the effectiveness of the menus, developing food proposals in line with the format of the restaurant is not only a question of business efficiency, but it is also a great cultural challenge”.
The awareness of Horeca professionals, to vehicle cultural dissemination among their end customers, is a fundamental driver for a general awareness of the value of the food. With this spirit was born the vademecum curated by METRO Italia and concretely finalized thanks to the precious collaboration of 11 APCI chefs and a METRO Academy chef who have experimented the content and offered their feedback to improve their effectiveness. "For APCI - comments Roberto Carcangiu, president - it was a great honor to be able to contribute through its chef Ambassadors to the realization of the project”.
The sector has gone through complex months but this, like all moments of sudden changes, can offer ideas for a renewal of the market. For this reason, the intervention of a partner such as Banco Alimentare was even more valuable. “Horeca paid a lot of consequences for the pandemic” says Marco Lucchini, general secretary of the Banco Alimentare. “Banco Alimentare is honored to have been able to share its 32 years of daily experience in the recovery of food surplus in developing the food waste fight at restaurants”.
“We must all feel like ambassadors of a true anti-waste culture, able to combine prevention and enhancement of surpluses through social solidarity. The vademecum developed by METRO is in line with the spirit of the anti-waste law, because it shows how essential it is to activate collaboration networks between profit and non-profit for a common goal.”, comments on. Maria Chiara Gadda, promoter of the so-called anti-waste law.
The culture of the respect for food is also born from the awareness of our actions, that in this case is nourished by knowledge of the Horeca sector. For this reason, METRO Italia has been collaborating for years with a prestigious institution such as the Sant’Anna School (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna), which has built with the company increasingly detailed analyzes of this specific area of consumption and behavior.
“The research team of the SuM _ Sustainability Management _ Lab of the Institute of Management of the Sant'Anna School, can rely on its strong experience and expertise on the theme of sustainable food and the fight against food waste to support the partners in the development of this vademecum also thanks to the results of the studies conducted in the recent past on these issues, always in collaboration with METRO Italia”, says Fabio Iraldo, co-director of the SuM Laboratory _ Sustainability Management _ of the Institute of Management of the Sant'Anna School. “Obviously the added value of involving 12 Ambassadors in the experimental and testing phase has allowed us to maximize the practical and concrete cut of these guidelines. This is an approach - adds prof. Iraldo - which responds well to the so-called third mission of University Institutes, that is the ability to transform research and theories into realistic and concrete solutions, applicable in society through dialogue and work with all subjects: business, institutions, associations and non-profit organizations”.
