Real Bread Campaign steps up pressure to get bakers to reduce surplus

By Gill Hyslop

- Last updated on GMT

The No Loaf Lost initiative is encouraging small bakers to reduce waste. Pic: ©GettyImages/BryanAlberstat
The No Loaf Lost initiative is encouraging small bakers to reduce waste. Pic: ©GettyImages/BryanAlberstat

Related tags Real bread campaign Baker

The Real Bread Campaign has released its No Loaf Lost Guide to encourage small bakery owners to think about surplus and ways to reduce it.

“Unless a bakery never has a single leftover loaf, there is an opportunity for surplus reduction,”

"Making less bread is better than ending up with leftover you can't sell." - Philippe Le Toquin, LongSlow Bakery

said The Real Bread Campaign’s Chris Young.

The initiative is part of the Real Bread Campaign’s work as a Courtauld 2025 engagement partner.

"It is worth emphasizing the importance of encouraging customers to pre-order as there's no better feeling than knowing that a loaf is solf before it even hits the oven." - Duncan Glendinning, The Thoughful Bread Company

Courtauld 2025 aims to cut the resources needed to provide food and drink by a fifth between 2015 and 2025, including a 20% reduction in food and drink waste, a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a reduction in impact associated with water use in the supply chain.

Feed bellies, not bins

“We are asking all bakeries to sign the No Loaf Lost pledge to plan, implement and promote work to slice their surplus,”​ Young told BakeryandSnacks.

To aid SME bakeries in their quest to get the “feed bellies not bins”​ message to shoppers that a great bakery is one with empty – not full – shelves towards the end of the day, the Real Bread Campaign has released a guide with tips, advice and suggestions.

Love to the fore

"Some day we sell out early and then if we happen to have bread left from the day before, we sell half price. It makes sense to find this bread a home." - Ben Mackinnon, E5 Bakehouse

“We began work on No Loaf Lost a few years ago, but it has taken this long to research and write the guide as we have been unable to secure funding,”
he said.

Some members of the Campaign’s network of 1,400 supporters in more than 20 countries worldwide came together to produce the guide.

“The guide was written by Campaign volunteers, with input from more than 50 bakers in our network and experts in food waste and surplus reduction, including Feedback, WRAP, Plan Zheroes and Real Junk Food Project,”​ said Young.

The free-to-download No Loaf Lost guide​ includes insights from Real Bread bakery owners and food waste reduction experts, including:

•             Reasons to slice surplus

•             Identifying when, where and why surplus arises

•             Ways to minimise mismatches between production and sales

•             Involving and communicating with customers and staff

•             What to do with any surplus that is still produced

The London-based Real Bread Campaign was founded in November 2008 to champion the rise of ‘real bread’.

Its work includes the Together We Rise social baking initiative, lobbying for an Honest Crust Act to protect shoppers from misleading labelling and hosting the annual Real Bread Week (February 24 - March 4, 2018).

Related topics Ingredients Bread Sustainability

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