Food packaging technology comes aboard the drive to reduce food waste

Today at “upakovka Moscow 2018” – one of the region’s largest trade fairs dedicated to food packaging – the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and trade fair organizer Messe Düsseldorf lead a seminar on how technological innovations in packaging can reduce food losses and waste.

Moderated by Eugenia Serova, head of FAO’s liaison office with the Russian Federation, the seminar focuses on innovative packaging solutions and modern technologies designed to reduce food waste and loss. Speakers and participants include high-level representatives of industry associations, the private sector, and the expert community including FAO.

“We are seeing a growing public consciousness of food waste and losses,” said Robert van Otterdijk, FAO agro-industry officer and food loss and waste expert. “The food packaging industry in particular has demonstrated a lot of interest in finding solutions to this global problem.”

“We are seeing a growing public consciousness of food waste and losses.
The food packaging industry has demonstrated a lot of interest
in finding solutions to this global problem.”

Robert van Otterdijk
FAO agro-industry officer,
food loss and waste expert

“The Russian food market is the second largest in Europe and it shows dynamic growth,” said Bernd Jablonowski, Global Portfolio Director, Processing and Packaging at Messe Düsseldorf. “In order to distribute food in this large country and preserve it from spoiling, it has to be packaged appropriately. As the leading show for packaging technology in Russia and member of the interpack alliance, upakovka is the ideal platform for raising consciousness of the idea of SAVE FOOD and communicating solutions at the same time.”

“. . . upakovka is the ideal platform for raising consciousness of the idea of SAVE FOOD, and communicating solutions at the same time.”

Bernd Jablonowski
Messe Düsseldorf Global Portfolio Director, Processing and Packaging

Worldwide, up to one third of all food is spoiled or squandered before it is consumed by people, according to FAO data. The energy, water, soil fertility and other resources used to produce that food are effectively wasted, too.

FAO and Messe Düsseldorf are collaborating with donors, international agencies, financing institutions and private-sector partners on a Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction – “SAVE FOOD” for short.

Speakers at today’s seminar include: Musheg Mamikonyan, Head of the Board of Trustees of the Stolypin Foundation; Irina Antyushina, Senior Sustainable Business & Partnerships Manager with Unilever; Armen Nalbandyan, CEO of “Liliani”; Vitaliy Momot, President of the Association of operators of refrigerated railway rolling stock; Olga Maxutova, Business development manager for Russia / CIS, BU Functional Minerals, Clariant; Svetlana Smayls, Industry development manager for Clariant; Alexandr Zenkin, Development Director for SOEZM; Yurii Katsnelson, President of the Russian Guild of Bakers and Confectioners; and Sergey Perminov, director of research and development with PepsiCo, Russia.

23 January 2018, Moscow, Russian Federation