Combating Food Waste in the HORECA Sector Continues with Sectoral Trainings

Metro Turkey, in cooperation with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, has prepared the "Guide for Combating Food Waste in Hotels, Restaurants and Other Mass Consumption Places" in order to contribute to the fight of the HORECA (hotel, restaurant, cafe) sector against food waste. announced that he started sectoral trainings based on his guide ”.  

“Trainings on Combating Food Waste in the HORECA Sector”, which are held with the aim of increasing the sensitivity towards food waste in the HORECA sector, and the adoption and implementation of this struggle by the chefs and sector professionals, starts on January 18th. With the trainings that will take place in two stages, it is aimed to help nearly 200 chefs and industry professionals make an effective start in the fight against food waste, set goals for their businesses and develop a successful food management strategy that fits their activities.

January 17, 2022 - Continuing its work for more than 30 years in order to preserve the Turkish culinary culture and pass it on to future generations. Metro Turkey, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announced that it has started trainings for the HORECA (hotel, restaurant, cafe) sector in order to prevent food waste in cooperation.

Based on the guide titled "Guide to Combating Food Waste in Hotels, Restaurants and Other Mass Consumption Places", which Metro Turkey prepared last year by benefiting from its knowledge gained from its business network operating in more than 30 countries and its experience in other countries. “Trainings on Combating Food Waste in the HORECA Sector” It starts on January 18. The first part of the training, which consists of two stages, is online; The second part will take place in the form of a 6-hour practical training in the kitchen of Gastronometro, which has been implemented as Turkey's first gastronomy discovery platform, with the physical participation of volunteers who have completed the online training. It is aimed to reach nearly 200 chefs and industry professionals with the trainings where all participants will be entitled to receive the training participation certificate for each completed training.

Save Your Food Campaign Supporter who moderated the press conference Dilara Kocakemphasized the importance of the contribution and cooperation of different stakeholder groups and sectors that deal with food waste in the accommodation sector and develop training on this issue.

Türung: “We continue the fight against food waste with a new educational move.”

Drawing attention to the global and national problem of food loss and food waste Metro Turkey CEO Sinem Turung, “Decreased natural resources, the global climate crisis, adversely affect agriculture and farmers, unfortunately leaving the world facing hunger and famine. For this reason, one of the most critical points of sustainability is undoubtedly the fight against food waste. Because the continuity of natural life depends on the sustainability of food resources. That's why we need to give food the value it deserves while producing, transporting and processing it. As Metro Turkey, we also take a holistic approach to our efforts to combat food waste within the scope of our responsible business model, and develop projects with our business partners with our belief in the power of common mind. We include our suppliers and customers in the HORECA sector in these projects. With this perspective, last year, we published a comprehensive guide to the hotel and restaurant industry in the fight against food waste, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), within the scope of the 'Save Food' campaign. Now, we continue our work with a new training move that we have prepared based on this guide. We believe that our 'Trainings on Combating Food Waste in the HORECA Sector', which we started with the aim of increasing the sensitivity of the HORECA sector to food waste, and that chefs and sector professionals adopt and implement this struggle, will be successful as a continuation of our exemplary work, just like our other pioneering works in the sector.” he said.

Gutu: “FAO appreciates the decisive action of the HoReCa industry leader”

Evaluating the Trainings on Combating Food Waste in the HORECA Sector FAO Central Asia Sub-Regional Office Coordinator and Turkey Representative Dr. Viorel Gut He said: “I am pleased to know that the cooperation of FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with Metro Turkey, which started with the development of sectoral guidelines last year, has developed further. This technical training will help catering companies put their acquired knowledge into practice and start implementing suggested solutions. The training will strengthen the capacity of the entire accommodation sector and thus contribute to the implementation of the National Strategy and Action Plan for the Prevention and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste in Turkey. Such an initiative will serve as a model for other actors to follow and inspire a range of overall targeted actions to prevent and reduce the waste of our valuable food resources.”

Işıkgece: “We will witness the transfer of our Food Waste Guide to the field”

Ayşe Ayşin Işıkgece, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry “We have been carrying out our Protect Food, Protect Your Table Campaign with FAO for more than 1,5 years. With the same cooperation, we are carrying the "Guide to Combating Food Waste in Hotels, Restaurants and Other Mass Consumption Places", which we prepared in cooperation with our Ministry, Metro Turkey and FAO, after an intense effort, with the opinions of nearly 50 stakeholders and which we presented to the sector free of charge. . Tomorrow we will witness our Guide being carried into the field.” he said. In the continuation of his speech, Mr. Işıkgece shared the results of the food waste research at HORECA within the scope of the Protect Your Food Campaign: “Almost 9% of the food produced in HORECAs is wasted every day. Most of this figure is leftover food on the consumer's plate. The most wasted products are bread and bakery products. About half of the wasted food goes directly to waste, while some businesses use it as animal feed. Return agreements with food suppliers allow businesses to move freely. The professional skill differences of the kitchen staff determine whether the food is used effectively in the pre-preparation and cooking processes. Mistakes caused by chopping and cooking cause waste. With the training that will start tomorrow, we will work to prevent the waste in these areas.”

It aims to prevent food waste, donate what cannot be avoided, and transform what remains.

Combating food waste in trainings to be held for businesses in the HORECA sector; Food waste in the world and in Turkey will be discussed under a total of 6 main headings: food waste measurement study, establishment and training of food waste management team, prevention of food waste, separation and measurement of food waste, and management of unavoidable food waste. In addition, within the scope of the trainings, the enterprises prevent food waste by measuring the planning of the menus, preparation phase, during and after the food service; There will also be issues of converting the inevitable surplus food, such as donating surplus food suitable for unavoidable consumption and reusing the leftovers for other purposes such as animal feed, energy recovery from compost. As a result of these trainings, businesses prevent food waste; they will learn how to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thereby increasing staff engagement and motivation as well as saving economically.

To reach the full guide published by Metro Turkey to combat food waste and food waste: https://gastro-cdn.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files/gastrometro-bakanlik-kilavuzu.pdf

About Metro Turkey

Established in Germany in 1964 and serving in more than 30 countries today, the international retail company Metro has been operating in Turkey since 1990. Metro Turkey, which has been working for more than 30 years with the aim of preserving the Turkish culinary culture and values, transferring it to future generations and bringing Turkish cuisine to the place it deserves in the world with its chefs, today employs more than 21 employees with 37 stores in 4.200 cities of Turkey. In addition to its store operations, it provides food delivery services to its professional customers in more than 60 cities with the Food Delivery Operation (FSD); offers more than 40 thousand kinds of food and non-food products to end consumers and HORECA (hotel, restaurant, cafe) businesses by considering the price-quality-performance relationship. The owner of the Sustainable Business Awards, Metro Turkey continues its activities by taking into account the economic, environmental and social impacts. The company, which has signed long-term projects in the fields of traceability, food safety and food waste and also has the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Certificate, supports domestic production, producers and cooperatives, and contributes to the spread and export of geographically indicated products. Metro Turkey, which offers more than 5.000 products to consumers with its own brands such as Metro Chef, Metro Professional, Metro Premium, Aro and Rioba, is the internationally recognized IFS Cash & Carry / Wholesale + It is the first and only company with IFS Logistics combined certificate.

Source: HORECA Trend and METRO Turkey