Standing for REconsidering MARKeting standards to enABLE prevention and reduction of FLW

In the EU alone, it is estimated that 58.5 Mt of food are wasted every year. While many efforts have been taken to prevent and reduce food loss and waste (FLW), few have addressed the impact of marketing standards (MS). reMARKable will use a combination of methodologies (in-depth interviews, expert elicitation, scenarios that emulate real-life situation, consumer lab experiments, designed lab observation studies, cross-country survey, citizen science, A/B field experiments, co-creation, neuroscience, mathematical modelling, sustainability assessment, workshops, debates) to provide multifaceted solutions that disentangle the mechanistic effect of MS in FLW. To achieve this, reMARKable will establish a stakeholder’s interest group (food industry, policy makers, industry organisations and consumers) to co-create marketing solutions that increase in-store availability and market access to undervalued, underutilised, and close-to-expiry foods. We will provide guidelines for data collection and assessment framework to evaluate available quantitative data on FLW caused by MS (public and private) across 5 EU regions, 6 food categories (fruit & vegetables, cereals, meat, dairy, eggs, fish) and 4 MS (cosmetic aspects, method of production, packaging, labelling). We will also quantify and analyse the trade-offs between FLW prevention objectives, safety, quality, organic production and relevant sustainability indicators. We will implement and monitor a set of social innovations and new business practices among 6 case studies. The long-term effect of 2 of them will be modelled to assess the impact of MS on supply chain performance indicators, consumer expectations and FLW. With 20 key actors from 10 countries, reMARKable will enhance stakeholders' understanding of the function and characteristics of private MS for a more informed and strategic decision-making. Together, we can ensure a fair and trustworthy food system for all by promoting more transparent and effective food MS.

Proposal for Horizon Europe with a budget of 5 million Euros that cleared the threshold and was waitlisted. The topic was about the various marketing standards that led to food waste in supermarkets and our proposal had put forward various solutions to address this.