Wholesale markets: a key player in food waste management

Working with wholesale markets where much food waste occurs across the Mediterranean is a key component of food waste management. The World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM), a network of 220 markets in 43 different countries, plays a crucial role in agrifood systems and has great leverage to reduce food waste. One of the members of WUWM is Rome Agri-Food Centre (CAR), the wholesale market of Rome, which has implemented the project Frutta che frutta non spreca (“Fruits that waste no fruit”), funded by the Ministry of Agriculture of Italy. A production lab was created within the wholesale market, where a social company transforms unsold fruit into juices, purees and jams that are sold at affordable prices in “social supermarkets”. This contributes to reducing food waste, as well as to promoting healthy diets. This practice, which involves several local stakeholders (the national government, the local administration, civil society organizations [CSOs], and the private sector) is a virtuous experience that could be upscaled in other markets.

FAO, CIHEAM, PRIMA Foundation and UfM. 2023. Sustainable agrifood systems in the Mediterranean – Levers for transformation. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8220en

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