EDE - In the retail industry, making packaging more sustainable has been working for some time, but the food service industry is still in its infancy. Wholesale Bidfood changes that and joins its hands with its suppliers to make packaging of products more sustainable.
Out.of.Home Shops speaks with Peter Terwindt, sustainability manager at Bidfood, about developments in sustainable packaging. ka ttan kutu yap m kapakl
How is Bidfood in general? “Bid food is doing well. About two and a half years ago the wholesaler changed its name, Delixl became Bidfood. In terms of timing, everything fell favorably at the time and after that we started even more on the hospitality sector. We started investing heavily in our online channels. As a result, we now reap the benefits of the successful e-commerce. Our customers have taken up those changes well and we see that in our turnover. "
What is the reason that Bidfood is now investing in making packaging more sustainable? “Sustainability has been high on our agenda for years. The fact that Bidfood now focuses specifically on making packaging more sustainable is a topic that has become increasingly important in the last two years. In retail you see a lot of innovation in packaging, but in food service this has lagged behind. In 2021, all single-use plastic items will be banned by a law from the European Commission. In supermarkets, consumers see the packaging and have an opinion about it. These can be adjusted quickly and easily. Producers are also tackling making their packaging more sustainable as a marketing strategy. In food service it is slightly different. There, the products are purchased via wholesalers and consumers only see the end product. This does not alter the fact that sustainability must and can be achieved. For this reason, we are taking the lead and making packaging more sustainable.”
What does the making packaging more sustainable entail specifically? “We are fully putting everything on. The first major change that we make lies with our own private labels. There we have the complete control ourselves and we can make the fastest blow. To illustrate: we have salads that we deliver to our customers in black plastic literbaks. That material is very difficult to reuse or break down, on which we will produce the bins in transparent or white plastic. This saves around 180,000 bins that we get from the market on an annual basis. Another example is the green crates, in which we deliver products to our customers. We are looking to deliver products with less or no packaging at all in those crates. Take, for example, pack apple juice. At the manufacturer they are packed in plastic and delivered to us as a package. We have asked our suppliers to put their products in the crates during transport. This saves in the logistics process, which not only results in a reduction in plastic, but also saving time. ”
Are the manufacturers and suppliers open to making the packaging more sustainable? "Of course. We involve our suppliers in this and ask them to proactively think about how we can make it more sustainable together. If we explain that the sustainable packaging is not only better for the environment in the long run, but also cheaper for the producer, the suppliers actively contribute. As soon as they realize that they can also get a financial benefit, there is more enthusiasm. By working together we can create more opportunities to make this sustainable step. Think of monover packages that are reusable or to reduce the amount of packaging per product. So no cardboard box with a plastic package around it, but only a box. In our distribution centers we see with our own eyes how the products are transported to the customer and we also try to look for new possibilities to reduce the packaging material. We started using less stretching foil during transport by looking at new solutions at pallet stacking. ”
What else do you do in the field of sustainability? “Apart from the packaging, we are always working on sustainability. We try to prevent waste by purchasing smartly. Our aim is not to throw anything away. For example, we have had a collaboration with Food Bank Netherlands for years and we have recently intensified the collaboration again. In every Bidfood branch we check which products are close to their expiration date. We never provide products that have already expired, but we do provide items with a shelf life of a few days. We then deliver these to the local food bank, so that they can distribute the food to the people who need the food parcels. As a company, we want to make an impact in the food service industry, also in terms of employees. This has less to do with sustainability, but there is also an initiative from Bidfood to tackle the staff shortage in the catering industry. We also make our Foodyards, kitchens that can be used for demonstrations, available to ROC students. They receive cooking lessons and instructions for preparing sandwiches, salads and other lunch dishes. We do this in collaboration with House of Hospitality. With this we hope to contribute to the training of good employees for the catering and hospitality industry. This makes us an even stronger partner for customers in the out-of-home industry.”
European objectives The European Commission presented a new plastic strategy in January 2018. It states that in 2030 half of all the plastic recyclable must be. Currently, Europeans use 25 million tonnes of plastic per year. Less than 30 percent of this is recycled and only 60 percent are recyclable. In 2025, 90 percent of all plastic products must be reused. To achieve these objectives, from 2021, the Commission will prohibit the use and sale of Single Use Plastics, plastic products that are only used once such as stirrers, straws and signs. These products are replaced by materials that are of course degradable such as paper, bamboo, sugar cane or certain types of wood. (Source: European Commission)
Scan Bidfood makes its packaging more sustainable by scanning against four criteria. Is the packaging necessary? Can the packaging be made lighter or with less material? It is also examined whether the packaging is recyclable or reusable. The scan is applied to primary packaging (for example a bottle), to secondary packaging (an outer carton for those bottles), and to tertiary packaging, such as the stretch film around the carts in which the cartons with bottles are transported. To make packaging more sustainable, for example, less stretch film can be used, the box can be replaced by a reusable crate and the bottles can be made from recyclable material.