Together against food waste: BILLA donated food worth 37 million euros

Food worth 37 million euros donated to charities

BILLA donated food worth 37 million euros in 2022 - an achievement that is only possible thanks to close cooperation with local social markets and charitable cooperation partners. Every BILLA and BILLA PLUS store in Austria works together with various organizations at the local level and in the spirit of neighborly cooperation. These include the Team Österreich Tafel of the Red Cross, Caritas, the SOMA social markets, but also smaller institutions such as the Flachgauer Tafel, the Pannonische Tafel, the Foodsharing initiative, or charitable associations such as Allesverwerter, Hoffnungsschimmer, and Lebensmittelretter OÖ. BILLA provides them with high-quality goods whose best-before date is approaching free of charge. These are often collected daily by committed volunteers directly from the respective BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores.

Harald Mießner, BILLA Board Member for Sales, explains: "As a food retailer, we live from selling food, not from throwing it in the garbage. It is our duty to use the resources available to us responsibly. We are constantly working to keep waste to a minimum - starting with needs-based ordering in our stores, to discounted sales of food just before the best-before date, to our collaboration with social markets and charitable organizations."

Avoiding food waste with forecasting systems

At BILLA, the sustainable use of valuable foodstuffs begins with the ordering of goods. Based on forecasts, individual order quantities are ordered in all stores so that only products that are actually in demand by customers are available - which is particularly crucial for fresh or perishable foods such as fruits and vegetables or prepared snacks. If there are still products left over whose best-before date is approaching, they are offered for sale at a reduced price and marked with "Food is precious" stickers to raise awareness.

Enjoying instead of disposing - thanks to sacks and cooperation with start-ups

For more than a year, BILLA has been offering fruit and vegetables in its BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores that no longer have their original packaging, from which a single piece of the packaging unit has been damaged, or which are perfectly fine and edible despite minor visual defects. In this way, apples, bananas, peppers, potatoes and the like are given a second chance and sold at a reduced fixed price of 3 euros per 3-kilo bag. Almost 934,000 kilograms of fruit and vegetables were saved in more than 311,000 sacks sold throughout Austria.

In addition, the teams in the BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores take care to process products holistically. The own brand "Wunderlinge", which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, brings fruit and vegetables to the shelves that are of the best quality and crispy fresh taste despite their unconventional appearance. Over 7,100 tons of Wunderlinge could be saved from waste throughout Austria in 2022.

BILLA also saves food thanks to its cooperation with innovative start-ups that process or pass on food shortly before the expiration date. For some time now, the company has been relying on companies such as Unverschwendet as well as Austrian producers such as the Farthofer distillery. With Too Good To Go, BILLA is also taking an important step towards the more careful use of resources. In all BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores throughout Austria, the Too Good To Go Surprise Box for 4.99 euros and the Baked Goods Box for 3.99 euros are available, which customers can use to save surplus food from disposal via the Too Good To Go app.

* Source WWF & Driven to Waste at www.wwf.at/artikel/tag-der-lebensmittelrettung