Packaging Community & Anuga Intensify Fight Against Food Waste

On Planet Earth two billion humans suffer from obesity and 800 million live on the edge of starvation. Meanwhile huge amounts of edible food are wasted, either in the supply chain up to the consumer or at home by that same consumer after purchase.

International exhibition Anuga FoodTec and the packaging community have now joined forces to chart where existing packaging may help in limiting food waste and to define areas where future packaging innovations may be needed.  

Two key events are the international conference “Fighting food waste together: how to open the potential of better packaging” (on 22 March 2018 in the morning at the Anuga FoodTec Forum Resource Efficiency) and the NVC Zero Food Waste Dinner (on 22 March 2018 in the evening at the famous maiBeck restaurant in the Cologne ancient City Centre).   

Visitors to the Anuga FoodTec (20-23 March 2018) may express their support for the fight against food waste by folding and subsequently using their own promotional fighting food waste lunch box during their stay in Cologne. Food packaging is the activity of temporarily integrating an external function and food to enable the consumption of the food. Important functionalities of food packaging in the fight against food waste are displayed on the box. The fighting food waste lunch boxes are available for free at the stand of the NVC Packaging Centre, Boulevard B033.   

Anuga FoodTec will also show how the dissemination of know-how on food packaging via education and training may be drastically improved. The novel NVC Live Online Ecourse Food Packaging removes the need to travel and facilitates global access for business students from any place with an adequate internet connection. Contrary to many ‘passive’ online courses, the Live Online method brings excellent learning results through live and experienced tutors, engaging business students in truly interactive, state-of-the-art lessons. 

The programme of the conference “Fighting food waste together: how to open the potential of better packaging” is as follows:

Thursday, 22.03.2018

10:00-10:25: Welcome and introduction (Michael Nieuwesteeg, Managing Director NVC)

• Unpacking some inconvenient truths in food packaging
• Gauging the double burden of malnutrition: the WHO Policy Brief
• From product shelf life to consumable product life: how can packaging help?
• Starting points for fighting food waste via better packaging

10:25-10:50: Responsible food for responsive consumers: the future of the food industry (Michele Amigoni, Technical Development Director Packaging Design & Standards, Barilla Group)

• Are we selling to our customers what we would serve our own kids at home?
• Balancing revenue growth and responsible packaging

10:50-11:15: International research: insights from the REFRESH project (Toine Timmermans, project manager REFRESH and Programme manager sustainable food chains Wageningen University and Research)

• Europe and China: take-aways from the REFRESH research programme on food waste prevention

11:15-11:40: A material perspective: metal packaging (Alexis Van Maercke, Secretary General APEAL)

• The relation between packaging material and the food it contains

11:40-12:00: Plenary debate with speakers and participants (co-moderated by Marco Sachet, Managing Director Italian Institute of Packaging and Michael Nieuwesteeg)

• What did we learn together today?
• What to do next together tomorrow?

More info:

www.nvc.nl

www.anugafoodtec.com