Bimbo, Nestle
join battle against food waste in Latin America, Caribbean
The
Inter-American Development Bank (I.D.B.) has brought together food and
technology companies to fight food waste in Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to the organization, more than 127 million tons of food per year goes
unused in the region while nearly 42 million residents grapple with
undernutrition.
IBD’s
#SinDesperdicio (#NoWaste) initiative seeks to bring better public policies and
innovative outreach to the area with help from Grupo Bimbo, Nestle, Coca-Cola
Co., Dow Chemical, the FEMSA Foundation, IBM and Oxxo. Other strategic partners
include the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the Global Food
Banking Network, the Consumer Goods Forum, and the World Resources Institute.
The initiative’s
goals align with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals 12.3 that asks all nations to halve food waste
and reduce food loss by 2030.
#SinDesperdicio
hopes to achieve that target through four measures. It will use technology to
reduce waste in supply chains, advance legislation and public policy to
encourage sustainability, develop reports to track progress and opportunities
and promote eco-friendly behavior among consumers and food suppliers.
“Meeting these
goals will demand effort from all of us,” said Julie Katzman, executive
vice-president, I.D.B. “This associates’ platform is a starting point to reduce
food losses and waste, a fundamental agenda to achieve our objective of
improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Alejandra
Vázquez, global sustainability manager at Grupo Bimbo applauded I.D.B. for
leading the effort.
“As founding
members of #SinDesperdicio we are also taking one more step toward our purpose
to help make this world a better place,” she said. “We congratulate the I.D.B.
for this initiative and we are sure that by joining efforts and synergies, we
will reduce food loss in the region together.”