The Sabri Ülker Foundation, which has put projects into practice to raise awareness in the field of healthy nutrition, announced its latest research on food waste in Türkiye as part of the World Waste Day events. “Consumer Waste Survey - TİA 2022” contains the most up-to-date data on the causes of food waste in Türkiye, where 4.9 million loaves of bread are wasted per day.

The Sabri Ülker Foundation, which maintains extensive research for the future of public health and spreading awareness of proper nutrition, has added a new one to its efforts. The results of the foundation’s research on consumers’ attitudes and behaviors towards food and bread waste were announced at the press conference held in Valencia, Spain, as part of the “International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day”.

In an era where food waste reaches 174 kilograms per person according to the European Food Information Council (EUFIC) data, the “International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day”, which has been held on September 29 every year since 2020 in order to draw attention to the dimensions of waste, has formed the main content of many events at the international level this year

Zeynep Özkan, Head of the European Union Harmonization Department of the TR Ministry of Agriculture & Coordinator of Protect Your Food Campaign

At the “Food Waste and Food Loss Prevention Actions Press Conference” jointly organized by the Sabri Ülker Foundation, the World Sustainable Urban Food Centre (CEMAS) and the European Food Information Council (EUFIC), the Sabri Ülker Foundation shared the EU-wide studies on food waste, Türkiye’s practices on food waste, and the Sabri Ülker Foundation’s experiences on its efforts to prevent food waste, carried out with different institutions.

At the meeting where Zeynep Özkan, Head of the European Union Harmonization Department of the TR Ministry of Agriculture & Coordinator of Protect Your Food Campaign, and Selen Tokcan, Secretary-General of the Sabri Ülker Foundation, shared the latest situation and studies from Türkiye, the results of the research, which is the most recent study revealing attitudes and behaviors about waste of bread and bread, were also conveyed.

EVERY YEAR 18.1 MILLION TONS OF FOOD IS WASTED IN TÜRKİYE

According to the UNEP 2021 report, in Türkiye, which ranks 15th among 214 countries in terms of food waste, 18.1 million tons of food is wasted every year, according to the latest research conducted in 2020. In Türkiye, where food constitutes 52% of the amount of waste in garbage, 4.9 million loaves of bread are wasted per day. Most of the losses are in fruits and vegetables. Following fruits and vegetables, in which approximately 50 percent of what is produced in Türkiye is lost, the beverage industry, and the service industry lead the way with a loss of 2 and 4.2 tons respectively. Domestic food waste in Türkiye is an estimated 7 million 762 thousand 575 tons per year. This rate corresponds to 93 kilograms per person per year.

Selen Tokcan, Secretary-General of the Sabri Ülker Foundation

Based on these data, the data of the Sabri Ülker Foundation, which carried out the study “Consumer Waste Survey - TIA 2022” specific to bread consumption, calls for a review of the current conditions on the main causes of wastage.

The research, conducted under the leadership of Prof İrfan Erol, member of Sabri Ülker Foundation Science Committee and faculty member of Eastern Mediterranean University Faculty of Health Sciences, sheds light on attitudes and behaviors regarding food and bread waste in Türkiye. The research, which was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 2,400 female and male participants over the age of 18 in 12 provinces across Türkiye, is also of great importance as one of the most recent and comprehensive studies on changing food consumption habits after the pandemic.

$80 MILLION SAVEDWITH SAVE YOUR FOOD CAMPAIGN

Zeynep Özkan, Head of the European Union Harmonization Department of the TR Ministry of Agriculture & Coordinator of Protect Your Food Campaign, who made a speech at the meeting, gave information about the “Protect Your Food, Claim Your Table” campaign carried out by the Ministry. Özkan said: “Any awareness project on food waste is very important. In cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, our national Save Your Food campaign continues to raise public awareness about food loss and waste and to mobilize all actors in the food supply chain. According to our campaign outputs; consumers began to waste less and households saved around $80 million. There was a 20% increase in awareness on date labels, a 40% reduction in overcooking and portioning, and a 22% increase in the recycling of waste food. 93% of consumers find the campaign useful and 84% are now more cautious about food waste.”

Selen Tokcan, Sabri Ülker Foundation’s Secretary-General, said that food waste is a very important problem both in Turkey and around the world and added: “We are putting awareness raising projects into practice in an attempt to support national action plans.” Tokcan pointed out that more than 700 million people in the world are struggling with hunger and more than 670 million people are struggling with obesity. She emphasized that all parties have no choice but to act together on food waste. 

“Our foundation started a joint work in cooperation with FAO in order to raise awareness about food waste from a very young age. The ‘Balance in Nutrition Education Project’, which we have been carrying out in primary schools in cooperation with the General Directorate of Basic Education of the Ministry of National Education since 2011, meets our children by being enriched with informative FAO materials on food waste this year. The project, which has reached 7 million students, parents and teachers, will contribute to making children more conscious consumers by educating them about the consequences of waste-oriented attitudes and behaviors,” Sabri Ülker Foundation’s Secretary-General Selen Tokcan said.

EUROPE’S REPORT CARD ON WASTAGE IS POOR

Speaking at the meeting, European Food Information Council (EUFIC) Director-General Laura Fernández Celemín emphasized that Europe’s report card on food waste is not bright and the fight against food waste is inevitable. “The EU wastes much more food than it imports,” Celemín said. European countries waste 153 million tons of food annually, which appears to be at least 15 million tons more than the amount shipped to the continent. For this reason, it is of great importance to organize communication campaigns to raise awareness for the consumer.”