International conference 'Towards Halving Food Waste in Europe' a big success

From June 17 to 19th 2024 the international conference Towards Halving Food Waste in Europe took place at CHV Noordkade in Veghel, the Netherlands. With over 350 attendees from 33 countries and over 50 expert speakers, Food Waste Free United and its partners look back on a successful conference. This event brought together representatives from companies, public and scientific organizations, and civil society, all united by the high ambition of halving food waste by 2030. The only way to achieve SDG12.3 is by accelerating joint efforts to change our food system and eliminate food waste at all levels in the food supply chain. During the conference lots of knowledge and inspiration was shared, new coalitions and collaborations were formed, and many new connections were made.

Inspiration on stage and in the field
The attendees experienced an inspirational program with over 50 experts sharing best practices, in an extensive plenary program and eight breakout sessions for a deep dive into more specific subjects. The next generation also took to the stage to share their views for the future. On the last day the participants went on one of six fieldtrips to visit different companies and organisations to witness and experience practical solutions and innovations to reduce food waste, in real life.

New coalitions
Multiple new coalitions were announced during the conference. These coalitions consist of companies and organisations joining forces to make a significant impact on reducing food waste together. The newly announced coalitions are the Date Labelling Coalition, the Smart Food Technologies Coalition and the Upcycled4Food coalition by Foodvalley. Especially the Date Labelling Coalition drew a lot of attention and was featured in many newspapers, national tv and trade magazines.

EU platform
The conference was also attended by members of the EU platform Food Losses and Food Waste, whose biennial meeting was held in the Netherlands by exception, allowing all members to participate.

Location
The conference took place at CHV Noordkade in Veghel (Meierijstad Municipality), where the Circular Food Center is established. The initiatives at this knowledge and meeting centre contribute to SDG 12.3. Businesses, social organisations, research institutes, and government agencies join forces in several clusters to reduce food waste in specific sectors. The clusters are actively working towards their common goal of reducing food waste and share their knowledge and experiences, when possible, to inspire other sectors as well. Several of the collaborating organisations shared their knowledge during breakout sessions at the conference or opened their doors during the fieldtrips. The Circular Food Center is a key project in the Regio Deal Noordoost Brabant (northeast Brabant regional deal).

Thanks to all speakers, partners and participants
Food Waste Free United would like to sincerely thank all the speakers, companies, key partners, and other people who contributed to the conference by sharing their knowledge, time, and inspiration. Thanks to their contribution, hundreds of (international) attendees were inspired to take steps towards halving food waste. As a gift to all participants, Food Waste Free United has donated one tree per conference participant to a brand-new forest in Brabant.

What’s next?
This conference has ignited a flame of inspiration in all participants to take (even more) active steps to reduce food waste in their country. In October, Hungary will host a new conference in Budapest about halving food waste in Europe, to keep the inspiration flowing. We cannot reduce food waste on our own, but if all parties in the food supply chain and supporting organisations work together, we can make a big positive change. Together we can halve food waste in Europe by 2030!

Watch the after movies:

You can find an overview of the photo’s here:

View a selection of media coverage about the conference here.

Key partners
The Dutch foundation ‘Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling’ (Food Waste Free United) is the national public-private initiative set up to realize SDG 12.3, with the long-term ambition of leading the way towards a responsible and circular food consumption and production system.

Food Waste Free United organized this conference in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, the province of North Brabant, the municipality of Meierijstad, and Wageningen University & Research.

The conference was financially supported by the Regio Deal Noordoost-Brabant.

The conference was endorsed by The European Commission DG Sante and the Global Champions 12.3 coalition.