Dr. Oetker Stories
In order to further advance our sustainability goals at Dr. Oetker, we are working on becoming more climate-friendly in various areas. Further reducing food waste is one of our goals. cameo in Italy has now entered into a partnership with "Too Good To Go" and uses the "Often Good for Longer" label for some products.
21.6.2023 • Sustainability
Sustainability is not just a principle, but a concrete goal that can be reached by changing the way we use the planet's resources. It is also one central part of our Purpose. cameo in Italy has been active for some time to make a contribution to the cause, especially regarding the fight against food waste, which today represents one of the most important challenges to be overcome. To further drive the reduction of food waste forward cameo started a partnership with a specific initiative.
In fact, several of the products we are known for were created to recover leftovers and fight waste. Pudding, for example, was originally born as a recipe to recover leftover milk, with a little starch, sugar, and a little cocoa.
In order to achieve all the goals we have set out in our Sustainability Charter, we have launched 30 different sustainability projects. Five of these are aimed at reducing waste, for example. Over the years, we have already achieved high efficiency within the supply chain. Nevertheless, we have set a target to reduce waste by a further 25% by 2025.
The partnership cameo established in 2021 with Too Good To Go - one of the most committed companies to promoting a healthy and sustainable approach to food consumption - responds to this priority. By signing this partnership, cameo chose to become part of an alliance made up of organizations, companies and supermarkets which consider it essential to drastically reduce waste at all levels of the agri-food chain through five different actions.
Conscious Label represents one of the most important initiatives promoted by this Pact. The goal is to help consumers better understand the subtle, but fundamental, difference between two terms found on food products:
In the first case, the expiry indicates the date beyond which consuming the product can cause a risk to our health, while in the second it indicates the manufacturer's estimate of the period of best quality of the product and whose consumption does not represent a risk because it concerns the possible disappearance of some organoleptic properties such as taste, fragrance and appearance. This apparently harmless confusion, however, has a huge impact on our planet: studies show that 10% of food waste in Europe is attributable precisely to the incorrect interpretation of labels. And in Italy, 63% of consumers say they do not have clear ideas about the different interpretation to be given to these two terms.
In this regard, ten million products have already been placed on the market with the "Often Good After" label, which invites consumers to observe, smell and taste the product that has passed the DMD, thus avoiding the waste of food that still can be consumed.
And we didn't want to be outdone. The wording "Often Good After" will be applied on various products of our Snack Friends range such as peanuts, pistachios, cashews and salty mixes, from small and practical single portions up to maxi-sizes.
Federica Ferrari, Executive Manager Corporate Communication at cameo, underlines the satisfaction for the company of being part of this project:
In June 2021 we signed the partnership with Too Good To Go by committing ourselves on several aspects: we provide our colleagues and consumers with ideas and practical advice on how to act against food waste in their homes and we give Too Good To Go a part of our products close to their expiry date by distributing them through the Magic Parcel. Less than a year after the signing of the Pact, we are proud to expand its field of action and further consolidate the partnership that binds us to Too Good To Go, implementing the "Often Good Beyond" label on the first ten products.
Katharina Ahnepohl
Media Spokesperson Sustainability