Addressing the problem of bread waste through stakeholder dialogues in Finland, Italy, and Sweden

2 October 2024 By

On 26 September 2024, at the Retaste Conference, LOWINFOOD partners Nina Mesiranta and Malla Mattila (Tampere University) presented the results of the study carried out in LOWINFOOD to identify new social and organisational solutions to reduce and prevent the loss and waste of bread along the whole bread value chain.

The study was based on insights derived from the stakeholder dialogues held in Finland, Italy, and Sweden between November 2021 and September 2022. In Finland, the stakeholder dialogues included four online workshops organised for bakeries as well as ten individual interviews of bakeries and retailers. In Italy, the dialogues included three meetings organised with 12 small bakeries in Viterbo area, whereas in Sweden, the dialogues included two to three rounds of individual discussions with bakeries, retailers, and logistics partners. All dialogues included discussions about the current problems in the bread supply chain and how they could be solved.

As a result of the dialogues, roadmaps outlining solutions to address the problems of the supply chain and to reduce and prevent bread loss and waste were developed. Due to substantial differences in how the bread sector operates in the three countries – especially regarding relations between retailers and bakeries – country-specific roadmaps were deemed necessary. Each roadmap includes a description of the country’s bakery sector, identification of key stakeholders for bread loss and waste reduction, as well as suggested actions for bakeries, retailers, and other stakeholders.