"The Hazi Foundation's Control and Certification Area, within the FOODRUS project, has created a FL/FW MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION SYSTEM. Potential users of this tool are agricultural companies, agro-industry, distribution companies (both wholesale and retail) and HORECA channel (hotels, restaurants and catering).
This tool can help medium and large companies in the agri-food chain to reflect and act on food wastage and, in particular, to adapt to the Law on the Prevention of FL/FW, which will be approved shortly in Spain.
The certification system is structured in six documents:
1.    FOODRUS Protocol. It specifies the objective, scope and definitions. It establishes the obligations of the actors in the food chain (FL/FW Prevention Plan, hierarchy...), the steps for the implementation of actions (e.g. control of the cold chain, control of processes and machinery, minimum content of donation agreements, training and awareness-raising of workers), monitoring of results, evaluation of compliance and management of documentation.
In other words, what the company must comply with in order to pass the audit and achieve certification.
2.    Certification procedure. This document explains in detail the approval, the evaluation criteria, how to make evaluation decisions, the validity of the certificate, the rules for the use of the mark, the rights and obligations of the auditees, the cases of withdrawal of certification, arbitration in case of conflict and the certification flowchart.
In other words, how Hazi should conduct the audit.
3.    Control plan. Document that defines the frequency of visits and the criteria used to define it.
It is used for monitoring over the years.
4.    Checklist. Document that includes the requirements (65 points) of the FOODRUS Protocol in a convenient way to carry out the audit in situ. The Checklist contains, in different columns, the ""Control Points"", the ""Compliance Criteria"" (detailed indication of how to assess the Control Points), the assessment made during the audit (not verified, not applicable, correct, not correct), the justification for this assessment (for example, it has been seen during the visit that on a specific day the maximum temperature values in storage established in the company's internal procedure were exceeded). Once the report has been completed, it is sent to the auditee, as a report, to complete, in the last column, the necessary corrective actions.
5.    List of documents to be requested in the audit. Complementary document to the checklist.
6.    Certificate. Document that is sent to the auditees. They can share it with their clients or publish it in their networks. Thanks to Deusto's work for FOODRUS, it can be verified through Blockchain at https://client.r3.blockchain.suite.apps.foodrus.eu.
As part of the FOODRUS Project, this certification system has been tested with two large companies: Florette (agro-industry producing 4th range vegetables and salads) and Eroski (food distribution and sales)."
 

"Blockchain technology has been evaluated for its potential to support the prevention of food loss and waste. This technology can enhance transparency in documenting the flows and activities within the food supply chain and provide an immutable record of certificates.

At FoodrUs, blockchain is introduced in the form of the R3 Audit toolkit solution. Within this solution, a blockchain network is deployed using Hyperledger Fabric to support the certification process. In addition to the blockchain infrastructure, an application for accessing, (writing, and reading) data is also developed. This tool serves both producers and certifying agencies by providing information such as the issuance date, expiration date, and validity of certificates. The inherent properties of blockchain technology ensure the integrity of the certificates, preventing tampering.

Moreover, the tool is designed to streamline the process of accessing information from other project tools also developed in FoodrUs, such as the Social Actions Module or the Food Supply Chain. It aids certifying agencies in auditing and verifying critical points defined in the waste management process. Thus, blockchain technology is utilized for certification in FLW through:

●    The deployment of a blockchain network involving six organizations: UD, Hazi, Eroski, Florette, and a generic agriculture company.
●    The implementation of a smart contract or chaincode to ensure transparency in the certification granting process.
●    The deployment of a tool for certification agencies to register indicators for decision-making and issue certificates.

This tool enables certification companies to issue certificates to specific entities storing the corresponding hash in the blockchain. Companies can also extract information from other project tools to determine if indicators have been met. Users can log in to the tool to explore the certificates they have issued and stored in the blockchain. Additionally, they can review the value of the certificates and track any updates they have received."
 

"Chef's Courses at Jespers Torvekøkken are designed to cultivate sustainable cooking practices among kitchen staff. The ""Nutrition for the Brain"" course, a pivotal component of this initiative, aims to enhance sustainability awareness, sensory skills, nutritional competence, and ingredient mastery among participants. This comprehensive course spans three days, integrating both online and in-person sessions tailored to the needs of kitchen professionals.
Key focuses of the course include sustainability education covering topics such as CO2 emissions, food waste reduction, and organic farming principles. Through a combination of theory and practical exercises, participants develop sensory perception, nutritional knowledge, and expertise in vegetable-based cooking. The curriculum emphasizes the creation of balanced meals while accommodating various dietary needs, allergies, intolerances, and special requirements.
Measurement methods include participant feedback, evaluation of practical kitchen exercises, and end-of-course assessments to gauge the effectiveness of the training. The results indicate improved sustainability knowledge, sensory skills, nutritional competence, ingredient mastery, and heightened sustainability awareness among participants. Positive feedback from participants underscores the course's success in meeting its objectives.
Lessons learned from the implementation of Nutrition for the Brain emphasize the importance of simplicity, relevance, active learning, suitable design, participant engagement, integration with daily routines, and clear learning objectives. These insights serve as guiding principles for replicating similar initiatives across diverse territories, ensuring the scalability and effectiveness of sustainability-focused culinary education.
Key aspects highlighted include the importance of simplicity in educational content, a kitchen-centric approach that adds tangible value to daily operations, and the integration of hands-on experiences to enhance practical understanding. The ideal solution design involves selecting venues conducive to both teaching and practical kitchen experiences, balancing participant numbers for optimal engagement, and fostering a social environment that encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Stakeholder engagement is crucial, prioritizing the integration of courses with daily production while clearly defining learning objectives to direct efforts and assess outcomes effectively. By adhering to these principles, Chef's Courses: Nutrition for the Brain serves as a model for sustainable culinary education, equipping kitchen professionals with the knowledge and skills to promote eco-friendly cooking practices in their establishments."
 

"Consorcio EDER has carried out with the technical assistance of ELKARKIDE (composting experts) a complete composting project with the schools of Peralta and Corella in Navarra (Spain).
The project started in April 2023.

Corella´s school

In Corella a day was held at the school with a talk on what composting is and how and what is composted, followed by a workshop in the school garden where the 5th grade students brought things from home to compost. Composters were installed at school provided by the local waste manager. It was a very productive day where the children learned the technique and got involved in a process that has been going on for several months.

After that first day, at the school in Corella and with the collaboration of Elkarkide, composting has been carried out with the remains from the dining room until December 2023, when a second day was also held at the school where the results of Elkarkide's work were seen, the finished compost and the pupils were able to plant lettuces in the vegetable garden. In this way, the children were made aware of the vital circle of food and the circularity of the process.

Peralta´s school

On the same dates, a day was held in Peralta at the local waste manager where composters are installed. The children brought leftovers from their lunches and were able to practice preparing compost on site, as well as a guided tour of the waste manager facilities to make them aware of the large amount of waste generated in their homes.

An introductory day to composting was also held at the school on the same day prior to the visit to the waste manager, where the 5th year primary school pupils were able to become aware of what composting is and how it is carried out.

After this day, Elkarkide has been in charge of working the compost throughout the summer in order to be able to make the return session in December 2023. This day was held at the school and each child was given a pot and some seeds so that they could take home a plant grown with the compost that came out of the leftovers from their lunches, and that they themselves deposited in the composters months before."
 

"Households have a great share in food waste generation all over the world. The European Union is not an exception, quite the contrary, over 50 % of food waste is generated by households. In Slovakia, the percentage is even higher, 62 % of all food waste produced here comes from the homes of consumers. Moreover, the change of habits at consumer level is fundamental and can bring transformational change to the whole bread value chain by positively affecting the whole value chain.
The main focus of the Slovak pilot was therefore to decrease bread waste in households as per EU targets, that is by 50%. Based mainly on both quantitative and qualitative research performed on 13 households over the course of 6 months a set of recommendations has been developed helping the households to reduce their bread waste. This toolkit aims to assist the consumers with improvement of their consumer habits such as shopping, storing, and preparing food. It contains a diary to measure bread waste with a questionnaire, tips on how to shop and store bread, beeswax wraps and other recommendations for proper bread storage and lastly, recipes from older bread to prevent it from discarding or feeding them to animals including a practical Zero Waste cooking workshop. 
When provided with all the tools they need and as part of a group, households are better motivated to waste less and decrease their impact on the environment which can lead to other aspects of life such as energy, packaging and overall consumption. Last but not least, they can lead by example within their families, communities and colleagues, which can bring a significant multiplication effect."
 

"The FOODRUS project has established an intense cooperation with European projects and related initiatives working in the topic of food losses and waste to create a networking environment within the same topic with the aim to maximize the project's impact and dissemination of results, as well as facilitating knowledge exchange and identifying synergies and complementarities.

Special attention was paid to the projects LOWINFOOD, FAIRCHAIN, CO-FRESH and PLOUTOS. These four projects and FOODRUS are commonly referred to as “Sister Projects”.

In an agreed and coordinated manner, the five projects established a working system to meet on a regular basis to share and define cooperation activities. The collaboration within the Sister Projects was led by the “Sister Projects’ Cooperation Group”. Common databases were established, as well as rotating organisation of meetings and 6 themed working groups:

●    Value Chain Assessment Methodologies
●    Co-creation Methodologies
●    Innovation Platform
●    Communication & Dissemination
●    Cooperation Plan & Workshops
●    Policy Recommendations & Practices

This methodology has enabled efficient collaboration, high level cooperation that led to the implementation of multiple joint actions to maximise the impact of projects.

One of the main results from this collaboration is the Sustainable Food System Innovation Platform, an online repository of case studies, innovative solutions and practice abstracts on sustainable food value chains with contributions from Sister Projects.

During the Sister Projects' cooperation experience, more than 60 meetings have been held with more than 100 people involved, and after three years of cooperation, a joint event was organized to present and discuss the experience with the Project Officers.

In addition to the close collaboration with the Sister Projects, the FOODRUS project has also built a Cooperation and Collaboration Network (CCN) with 39 projects and initiatives which have worked on or are currently working in the field of food losses and waste.

The objective of this Network was to build a community of practice to share experiences, lessons learnt and identify gaps, barriers, and best practices for the transition towards a more sustainable food system. The CCN is composed of:

●    A Networking body created with the Sister Projects to facilitate the management of the entire network. 
●    The rest of the projects as members of the CCN that participate in a minor degree of cooperation by agreeing in the proposed common activities and implementing the activities they are interested in collaborating.

CCN members have participated in two joint webinars (in 2022 and in 2023) to enhance cooperation and knowledge sharing, and ELIKA monthly updates them on workshops organized by CCN projects."
 

"The FOODRUS project introduces an innovative method to tackle food waste and improve inventory management across food product supply chains. By promoting cooperation between producers and retailers, it emphasizes the importance of precise demand forecasting to reduce waste and ensure optimal stock levels. This approach is particularly beneficial as it considers the distinct challenges faced by both groups. Producers deal with variables like weather, technological changes, and consumer preferences that influence how much they produce. Retailers, on the other hand, must consider stock requirements, seasonal demand changes, and factors such as holidays and inflation to meet consumer expectations effectively.
Recognizing the difficulties of making perfect demand predictions, FOODRUS leverages the latest in statistical analysis, machine learning, and deep learning to aid in decision-making. These advanced techniques help understand the factors driving demand, enabling businesses to refine their stock strategies, make smarter purchasing decisions, and better meet the needs of their customers.
A key innovation within the FOODRUS project is a user-friendly web tool, part of a larger platform that includes 11 other solutions aimed at reducing food waste. This tool is notable for its secure environment, which safeguards sensitive company data. This aspect was a critical challenge, given the need for companies to share information while retaining control over their proprietary data. The tool not only forecasts demand but also offers access to valuable insights, such as previous year trends and the ability to review historical data for accuracy. This functionality is crucial for identifying and correcting any errors in past data, thereby improving the forecasting accuracy.
Implemented through pilot studies in diverse sectors—vegetables and prepared salads in Spain, meat and fish in Denmark, and bread in Slovakia—the FOODRUS project demonstrates the effectiveness of its forecasting models. These models are specially adapted to each sector's unique needs. Beyond just providing forecasts, the application offers a wealth of additional information, enhancing the decision-making process for businesses. This approach not only significantly reduces food waste along the supply chain but also presents a model that can be adapted to other sectors, leading the way toward more sustainable and efficient supply chain management practices. The FOODRUS project illustrates the shared benefits of collaborative forecasting for all stakeholders in the supply chain."
 

"Within the FOODRUS project, a total of 12 innovative solutions have been deployed with the overarching goal of preventing food loss and waste (FLW). These solutions are strategically grouped to address specific facets of FLW prevention, encompassing several objectives:

1.    Quantification and Monitoring of FLW: This category focuses on developing tools and methodologies to precisely measure and track FLW at various stages of the food supply chain (FSC).
2.    Monitoring the Impact of FLW Prevention Actions: Solutions in this group aim to assess and monitor the effectiveness of FLW prevention strategies implemented throughout the FSC.
3.    Root Cause Identification: Here, the emphasis is on identifying the fundamental reasons behind the generation of FLW, allowing for targeted interventions.
4.    Identification of Best Practices: This category is dedicated to highlighting the FLW prevention actions that have proven highly effective in preventing food loss and waste (FLW). In this way, replicability and transferability to other use cases is facilitated.

These innovative solutions span a range of applications, including process optimization, certification based on blockchain, urban waste characterization tools, and e-learning materials, among others. While each solution is tailored to specific FSC stages, collectively, they comprehensively cover the entire food supply chain, from primary production to consumption.

Central to the FOODRUS initiative is the FOODRUS suite (accessible through: https://client.suite.apps.foodrus.eu/), an integrated platform that consolidates all 12 solutions. The suite comprises:

1.    A solution access panel: Facilitating access to each individual solution within the platform.
2.    Descriptive sustainability KPIs: Resulting from a co-creation process, these KPIs are automatically collected and updated through digitalization, providing a comprehensive overview of the project's sustainability metrics.
3.    Interactive dashboard: It enables users to visualise aggregated KPI results for specific time periods, individual pilots, or the collective results of multiple pilots. The dashboard allows the filtering of specific KPIs or visualising results for particular FSC stages. It serves as an open data repository that showcases aggregated data and thus maintains data confidentiality while providing transparency.

The FOODRUS suite acts as a multifaceted tool, offering insights into trends, solutions to prevent FLW, and sustainability performance. It enhances cooperation opportunities by providing integral data management for implementing cooperative strategies. Additionally, the suite offers transparency on economic, social, and environmental impacts, fostering a holistic understanding of FLW prevention within the food value chain."
 

"In a survey conducted by Florette as part of its #EatWellBeHappy campaign, they observed that avoiding food waste and the selection of local products are priorities for Spanish people when filling their shopping baskets.

The Navarre-based company acknowledges that these practices are fundamental for sustainable gastronomy. Supporting local products not only boosts the regional economy but also reduces the environmental footprint by decreasing CO2 emissions in transportation. That´s why the company is committed to nationwide production, with more than 2,000 hectares of cultivated fields worked by local farmers. Additionally, it ensures freshness and quality as they are harvested at their optimal point. Moreover, a responsible management of natural resources is essential. To achieve this, the brand implements measures such as rainwater reuse and the SmartWash project, which reduces water consumption during the vegetable cleaning process. This not only benefits the environment but also promotes water saving by the consumer.

On the other hand, avoiding food waste, especially fruits and vegetables, is crucial for both health and the environment. Florette helps consumers by offering products with just the right number of raw materials and donates discards obtained during the production process for animal feed. Furthermore, it gives some tips to maximize freshness and flavour such as storing them between 1 and 4 degrees, proper packaging, and separating fruits and vegetables due to their differing ripening times and promotes recipes that make use of food leftovers, following the zero-waste philosophy.

Finally, the recyclability of the packaging is another important aspect of sustainable gastronomy. Florette's Complete Salads packaging is 100% recycled and recyclable. In addition, the packaging of ready-to-eat salads is 100% recyclable and contains 15% less plastic, a measure that has helped to remove 160 tons of plastic from the market each year. This adds to the company's commitment to sustainability, closing the loop of a more conscientious and responsible food chain."
 

"FoodOp, a digital platform aimed at professional kitchens, revolutionizes food waste management and guest satisfaction by seamlessly integrating measurement technology with insightful analytics. By tracking guest preferences and food waste patterns, FoodOp empowers kitchens to optimize meal quality while promoting environmental sustainability.
The FoodOp platform utilizes a comprehensive approach to measure various categories of food waste, including production waste, buffet waste, and plate waste, with and without meat distinctions. This nuanced measurement strategy enables targeted initiatives to minimize food waste, especially emphasizing opportunities for upcycling leftovers.
Utilizing data collected through the FoodOp weight measuring system, establishments can establish baselines to understand current food waste levels, make meaningful comparisons, and track the impact of interventions over time. Initial results from two locations demonstrate significant reductions in food waste fractions following the implementation of FoodOp. Moreover, insights into guest consumption patterns highlight the potential to introduce more environmentally friendly options, such as vegetarian dishes.
Lessons learned from FoodOp installations emphasize the importance of setting SMART goals for measurements, addressing data validation challenges, providing staff training for behavioral change, managing stakeholder expectations, and emphasizing long-term planning. Establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives ensures effective interventions.
Data validation challenges necessitate understanding the impact of increased data collection on waste measurements and the influence of staff and consumer behavior. Hence, staff training and behavioral adjustments are essential to foster a culture of waste reduction and accurate measurement. Managing stakeholders' expectations is crucial, emphasizing that FoodOp is a long-term solution focused on informed interventions and continuous improvement.
In conclusion, FoodOp presents a transformative solution for professional kitchens to minimize food waste and enhance sustainability while catering to guest preferences. By leveraging insights derived from comprehensive measurements, kitchens can streamline operations, reduce environmental impact, and meet evolving consumer demands for sustainable practices."
 

"This study investigates the effectiveness of Zero Waste Cooking as a nudging intervention to promote sustainable dietary practices and reduce food waste within university canteens. Zero Waste Cooking classes are designed to empower participants with practical skills and knowledge to repurpose food scraps into flavorful meals, thus contributing to a more sustainable food system.
Through hands-on experiences and educational sessions, participants learn innovative techniques to minimize waste and maximize the use of ingredients. Evaluation of the Zero Waste Cooking initiative reveals positive feedback from participants, highlighting increased awareness of food waste issues and newfound culinary skills.
Key findings underscore the importance of community engagement and practical education in fostering sustainable behaviors. The success of Zero Waste Cooking as a nudging intervention suggests its potential to drive meaningful change in consumer habits and contribute to a more environmentally conscious food culture.
This research offers insights into the efficacy of Zero Waste Cooking as a sustainable solution within food service settings, emphasizing its role in promoting resourcefulness and reducing environmental impact. Further exploration of this intervention holds promise for advancing sustainability efforts in culinary environments and beyond.
Lessons learned from this study emphasize the importance of tailored messaging, understanding consumer behaviors, and continuous reinforcement in promoting sustainable dietary choices. Practical implications include the necessity of ongoing engagement with stakeholders and the integration of participant feedback to refine and enhance nudging strategies for long-term effectiveness.
Overall, this research underscores the potential of nudging interventions in driving meaningful behavior change towards a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future."
 

"Mechanised technological solution adaptable in size and scale to agri-food industries that allows organic waste to be separated from plastic waste in order to give each type of waste its appropriate treatment: the organic matter can be used to make compost as a valuable fertiliser to enrich the soil and the plastic can be recycled for a second life.

The prototype is made up of 3 electromechanical elements: conveyor belt, bag opener and trommel (drawing 1) which together perform the task of emptying the contents of the product inside. The electromechanical equipment that makes up the machine are protected and controlled by means of an electrical panel which, in addition to containing the different protection elements, has 3 speed variators sized according to the power of each motor for regulating the operating speed of the elevator belt, bag opener and trommel.

The prototype design incorporates several active safety measures to ensure operator protection and prevent accidents. The safety elements implemented are detailed below:

Mechanical protection:
Shells and screens have been installed on every part of the trommel to prevent access to hazardous areas. This mechanical protection acts as a physical barrier preventing direct contact with moving or hazardous parts of the machine.

Inductive sensors:
In critical areas, such as doors and removable parts, inductive sensors have been incorporated. These sensors can detect the position of elements such as doors and removable panels. The machine cannot operate unless all these safety elements are correctly positioned. This feature ensures that the machine only operates when all protections are in place.

Safety pictograms:
Pictograms have been placed on each part of the machine to indicate potential associated hazards. These pictograms provide visual information on precautions to be taken and potential dangers in each specific area of the machine. They contribute to a quick awareness and understanding of potential risks.

Active safety:
These active safety elements combine physical and technological measures to create a safe working environment. The combination of mechanical protection, inductive sensors and pictograms helps to minimise risks and ensures that the machine only operates under safe and controlled conditions."
 

"According to the food waste hierarchy, redistribution for human consumption is the second best option after the surplus reduction at the source. In Slovakia, almost 900.000 people lived at the risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2022. These people are not granted access to good, safe and healthy diets, and often rely on donations. Fee Food has been coordinating a food aid network with over 30 charities and 20 volunteers, who, on a daily basis deliver fresh food, mainly bread, to these charities feeding over 500 people a week. 
However, food donations are not supported by state or public authorities whether it comes to legislation, fiscal policies or direct financial support. As part of the FOODRUS project, Free Food has looked more closely at the economic and legal barriers to food donations. Although a few exceptions were made in the last 3 years, the main barriers and issues have remained. One of them is the absence of national guidelines on food donations. With this in mind, Free Food has created their own best practices guidelines including food donations toolkit and Zero Waste cookbook Second Life Bread which also charities can use to consume the surplus bread. In 2023, Free Food safely delivered or facilitated the delivery of over 100 tons of food."
 

"The first food waste mandatory results based on the EU legislation (2019 and 2020) are officially available on Statistics | Eurostat (europa.eu). They show the real scale of this problem. Food waste attributed to households in Slovakia represents 62%. To address this a behavioral change of consumers is essential and can bring the transformational change into the whole food value chain backwards.

Citizen science activities are a valuable tool that has been used to develop the Zero Waste CookBook for Bread under the title “Second Life for Bread: Delicious Ways to Cut Bread Waste at Home ''. It was created in three different modalities: (i) as an e-learning, (ii) online e-book publicly available (Second_Life_for_Bread_ENG.pdf (foodrus.eu)) and (iii) a physical book. The recipes were also included in the Cook App. The book was translated into several EU languages for broader dissemination purposes. It was also tested at zero waste cooking shows and events and in the research activity with households, where the amount of bread waste significantly dropped in the monitoring period (by over 43%).

It includes 35 traditional and modern-day recipes (9 starters, 8 breakfast meals, 11 main dishes and 6 deserts) collected from the general public through the online call and through collaboration with the renowned food ethnologist.

These recipes allow users to make use of all bread that comes to the households. Nutritional values for each recipe are also provided as well as tips and tricks on how to avoid wasting bread at home. In addition, there are some historical and social aspects of bread included in the chapter “Cereal spikelet in the faith of Slovak history. It also provides practical and useful information on various grains and flour types as well as on unleashing the extraordinary potential of sourdough.

The book was promoted at various public events (Zero Waste Brunch, Good Market, conferences) and shared with charity organizations. Associated supermarket promoted it in a dedicated campaign running in its Slovak shops with QR codes placed on bread shelf trackers, in store spots broadcasting and joint media communication."
 

"It is estimated that annually 1.3 billion tons of food are lost or discarded to become waste. The Municipality of Halandri has established best practices for circular economy and sustainable management of household biowaste since 2016 during the implementation of EU funded HORIZON Waste4Think when food waste was separately collected and valorized to produce biogas, among other products for fueling the collection trucks, demonstrating the way for food waste management for a circular economy. In recent years the Municipality has adopted the UN DG 12.3 strategic goal and committed to combat food waste by engaging the local society as well as local and national stakeholders. The venture is coordinated by the newly founded Food Loss and Waste Prevention Unit. The primary activity is to set the baseline and identify food loss and wasting hotspots, as well as to optimize the separate collection and valorization of the kitchen biowaste fraction in the Municipality. Several actions of research and awareness raising have been already carried out. More specifically, food waste monitoring has been performed in two public nurseries using diaries; household food waste has been monitored by means of diaries, questionnaires and compositional analysis; seven workshops in public schools, one regional FoodRUs project workshop, one zero waste cooking event and several stakeholder meetings have taken place in order to disseminate information, engage citizens and strategically plan the follow up activities.
The intended outcomes are the following:
a. create awareness on food waste 
b. employ citizen science tools to educate citizens on food waste prevention
c. create a living  lab for socially responsible citizens that take actions in preventing and reducing food waste 
d. explore and employ the best implications of food waste valorization for local community
e. save surplus food via redistribution, in order to support socially vulnerable groups and promote the involvement of these groups in the process
The FooDRUs solutions and the replication roadmap developed by the associated region of Halandri will act as a guideline in achieving the intended outcomes. The Municipality aims to create long term and sustainable strategies to consistently battle Food Wasting. "

"FOODRUS project has developed a solution that aims at early detection of breaks in the cold chain so that all stakeholders involved can know the temperature profile of the product along the entire supply chain. The tool monitors temperature of the product, provides location information as it passes through the various points in the supply chain and is able to monitor in near real time the temperature and location of the product, sending the collected data to the cloud automatically, without human intervention.

The solution has been carried out by monitoring the cold chain of packaged salads along a four-point supply chain: the factory where the salads are produced, the company's logistics warehouse, the logistics platform of the distribution company and the supermarket where they are placed on retail shelves.

Three types of monitoring devices have been deployed for this purpose. On the one hand, an ANCHOR device has been placed at each point in the supply chain, which continuously transmits a radio beacon with its location. On the other hand, a LOGGER device has been placed in each box of salads, capable of recording the temperature of the salads, as well as the beacons of the ANCHORs in their vicinity. Finally, at each point in the chain, a transmitter device has been installed to collect data from the LOGGERs and send it to the cloud automatically.

The experiment phase has been designed with thirteen different scenarios, including the basic one in which the cold chain is not broken, and twelve more where cold chain breaks were forced, in different points of the supply chain and with different durations. At the end of the supply chain, the products were tasted in order to analyse their organoleptic properties and draw conclusions about the effect of breaks in the cold chain on product quality and the quantification of the shortening of the best-before date.

It has been demonstrated that the tool is able to detect breaks in the cold chain as they occur, without the need for human intervention. In addition, it provides information not only on when the breakage occurs, but also where it has occurred. Thus, it allows to estimate the shortening of the shelf life of the product due to cold chain breaks and helps the stakeholders to prevent the products to be wasted by taking actions such as prioritising the sale of products or modifying internal logistic processes."
 

"Innovative BetaFERM technology was identified through a public survey as an existing technological solution for expanding its current rather low use in the bakery sector. Its potential was used by less than 10% and only in the bakery production. Its applicability can be extended to other food sectors.

BetaFERM represents a new innovative technology for valorisation of waste streams during food processing (upcycling) by utilization and transformation of food side materials to another form, which offers higher added value as a new ingredient or directly as a food product for human consumption. It enables practical knowledge transfer into food production and contributes to creating a more conducive environment to business innovation. Positive effects are on sustainability and human health.

Transformation of two waste products and their use in bakery recipes were investigated:

1.    Solid soya-pulp (okara) – a semi-product from tofu cheese production, made from soya beans with very limited usability (small part of okara is utilized in soya paté product), almost 80% to 90% of okara is wasted. 
2.    Wheat brans - is side stream in milling of cereals, mainly wheat. The source of fibre, minerals and enzymes with only rare utilization in food production.

The principle lay in the mechanical and physical treatment of components in specific combinations with biological treatment, using the method of targeted fermentation similar to the biological transformation in nature.

The aim was to develop optimal fermentation methods for up to time unprocessed food waste streams, as well as optimization of bakery product’s recipes for integration of newly developed food materials into bakery products.

The main result is that after a special fermentation process both waste products, okara and wheat brans, proved to be very suitable for further use in the production of fermented bread and also pastry (even if pastries were not tested in this study, the parameters of okara Betagel seems to be perfectly fit for both basic types of bakery products as ingredient with improving impact on final quality).

Wheat bran Betagel is suitable for all whole grain and acid cereal type baked products from wheat and rye. The addition of 10% wheat bran Betagel to whole grain bread has strongly improved its yield and shelf life, as well as content of total fibre in bread, also increased its cereal taste and aroma.

Industrial utilization of okara and wheat brans by BETAFerm proved to be fully possible."