Credit: Jazmin Campbell

The Lidl supermarket chain has raised €27,017 for the social supermarkets run by Caritas and the Luxembourg Red Cross, thanks to the “Bon appétit, Zéro gaspi” initiative.

Lidl presented Caritas and the Red Cross with the cheque during a press conference held this morning at the Caritas Buttek social supermarket in Luxembourg City. Launched in May this year, this zero-waste initiative forms part of Lidl's strategic and sustainable development and its ambition to reduce food waste by 25% by the end of 2020 and by 50% by 2025 (compared to 2015).

Philippe Weiler, Head of Sustainability at Lidl, said that this cheque was “of capital importance” for Lidl Luxembourg, in its efforts to reduce food waste. Explaining how the project achieves this, Mr Weiler cited an efficient order system, direct contact with the food producers and avoiding offering too much of one product, ie offering a few select apple brands rather than ten, a lot of which is likely to go to waste.

As part of this project, launched exclusively in Luxembourg, customers can purchase food products that are always fit for consumption at a greatly reduced price. For instance, fruit and vegetables past their best before date (but still in good condition), which would normally be thrown out or put in a bio box, are sold in 3kg boxes for €1. In this way, the initiative offers customers a sustainable and affordable alternative.

Thanks to the money raised through this project, the social supermarkets run by Caritas and the Luxembourg Red Cross will be able to supply additional goods and offer a more diverse selection of products to the most disadvantaged. In 2018, Luxembourg’s network of social supermarkets helped over 10,000 people. The aim this year is to help even more people.

Fabien Schmit, Head of Logistics of the social supermarkets, said that whilst the stores pursue their own efforts to reduce food waste, the project is beneficial in that it aims to reduce food waste in general. He explained: "The cheque given by Lidl will allow our social supermarkets to buy products from Lidl as well as a vehicle to transport the various goods collected across Luxembourg". He described the initiative as a "win-win" situation for all involved.

Philippe Weiler added: “We have good hopes of achieving our objectives: eight months after the launch of our "Bon appétit, Zéro gaspi” initiative, 29 crates were sold per week per store. In addition, in 2019 we reduced food waste by 17.32%”.