An estimated 20% of the total food produced is lost or wasted in the EU. According to the Malta National Statistics Office, in 2024, Malta generated over 36,000 tonnes of kitchen waste. When food is wasted, all the resources that were used to produce this food, including water, land, energy, and labor hours go to waste. Some waste also occurs at the distribution level, and at businesses.
To help address this, Friends of the Earth Malta will soon be launching a new EU-funded food waste reduction app called Food Connect. We would like to invite bakeries, restaurants, grocery markets, and farm stands to participate to help reduce food waste in Malta. Through the app, food businesses can donate edible/healthy food that your business would otherwise throw away. You prepare food for donation in a box or bag, and individual receivers can claim them via the app, and come to pick them up.
Before we launch the program publicly, we are happy to let you know that the test version of the Food Connect app is now ready, and we would love to have your food business as part of our testing group.
During this testing phase, you will be able to:
- Log in as a donor.
- Upload food items you wish to donate
- Test the process of listing items, editing, and confirming pick-ups
- Share feedback on usability and any improvements needed
Project staff from Friends of the Earth Malta will act as test receivers during this test phase, claiming the items being donated, so we can check that all steps run smoothly from both sides. Then in the coming months the app will go live to the general public.
Benefits to food businesses:
- We are in the process of ensuring that you will be able to take a tax deduction for your donations.
- Also, as your business will be featured on this app, which we will be promoting via our channels, it serves as promotion of your business to sustainable-minded customers.
- Your company will help save food waste, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions for all of us. Your participation will help us ensure this EU-funded platform is user-friendly and fully functional before the public launch (to take place soon).
Please register, and when you have done so, let us know on beth@foemalta.org!
Thank you again for your willingness to save food, and to contribute to the development of the Food Connect project!
‘Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. “This project has been funded by the NGO Co-Financing Fund (NCF) managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS) supported by the Ministry for Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector (MIV)”.’
Sources:
EU Circular Economy Plan 2020 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2020:98:FIN