Hävikkifoorumi – Consumers’ Food Waste Forum

Hävikkifoorumi (2020-2023), The National Food Waste Forum, is a food chain development project of Finnish Food Authority coordinated by The Consumers’ Union of Finland that has been established to respond to the Finnish government’s commitment to the SDG goal of halving food waste per capita by 2030. Hävikkifoorumi aims to be the biggest food waste project in the nation by assembling all interested food sector operators, companies, organizations, local grass roots actors and others to collaborate and communicate effectively in order to halve household food waste in Finland by 2030.

The Consumers’ Union of Finland is implementing the three-year food chain development project in affiliation with Natural Resources Institute Finland, Motiva, The Martha Organization, The Rural Women’s Advisory Organisation, The Finnish Grocery Trade Association, and Choice Architecture Partners Oy. Hävikkiviikko, the popular national food waste campaign organized annually by Kuluttaja magazine, is also being implemented as a part of the project for the duration of 2021–2023. The project is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland.

There are already over 70 adherents in Hävikkifoorumi! We are all needed to halve food waste by 2030 – Join us!

Biovaaka Oy

HKScan Finland Oy, HSY, HSY:n Ilmastoinfo, Hukka AI

Jyväskylän kestävä kehitys JAPA ry, Järvenpään kaupunki, Jätekukko Oy

Kaviaarista arkeen, Keru-yhteisöjääkaappi ry, Keski-Uudenmaan Kuluttajat ry, Kesko, Kestävä Ruokakasvatus ja Ruokahävikkihanke (Itä-Suomen yliopisto), Kiertokaari Oy, Kiertokapula Oy, Kitsain, KomeroFood OY, Kotien Puolesta Keskusliitto ry

Lakeuden Etappi, LivsVinn

Merenkurkun Kuluttajat ry – Kvarkens Konsumenter rf, Minna Mustonen

Naiset puhuu rahasta, Nuorisoasuntoliitto ry, Nuorisotyö ilmastotoivon rakentajana -hanke (Mikkelin nuorisopalvelut), Nurmon yläaste

Package Testing and Research Oy, Paulig Oy, Pidä Lappi Siistinä ry, Pieniä ekologisia tekoja, Päijät-Hämeen Kuluttajat ry, @paiviil (vaikuttaja Instagramissa)

ResQ Club Oy, Ruohonjuuri, Ruokasektorin koordinaatiohanke (Turun yliopiston Brahea-keskus), Ruokakasvatusyhdistys Ruukku ry, Ruokatieto Yhdistys ry

Seinäjoen ammattikorkeakoulu, Stadin safka, Stadin asukastalo Oulunkylän seurahuone, Suomen Biokierto ja Biokaasu ry, Suomen Monikkoperheet ry, Suomen Nestlé, Suomen Pakkausyhdistys ry, Stormossen

Vaasan Oy, Vaasan yliopisto

Wastebusters Finland tutkimusryhmä (Tampereen yliopisto), Wacky Mind Oy, WeFood

Yrttiaitta Saarento

At the heart of the project is a research report done by Natural Resources Institute Finland and Choice Architecture Partners Oy. The report examines the barriers and drivers of change in consumer behavior in relation to reducing food waste.

The goal of the report is to find the best practices and tools with which to achieve genuine behavioral change. The report studies:

The barriers and drivers regarding change in food waste related consumer behaviour by separating them into two parts: A) consumer attitudes and motivation B) operating environment and situational factors.

Best practices for changing consumer attitudes and motivation, reducing food waste and increasing food appreciation.

Best practices for modifying consumers’ everyday operating environments (everyday design) and supporting sustainable consumer behavior.

The report scrutinizes consumer behaviour in three environments in particular: home environments, grocery stores, and online food stores. The report will be published at the beginning of November and its summary will be translated in English.

Workshops will be held based on the results of the report with the aim of creating concrete solutions and means to reduce household food waste. The themes of the workshops will be limited to consumer food waste in the environments of online food stores, grocery stores and home.

The aim of the Hävikkifoorumi workshops is to innovate new ways to nudge and support consumers towards reducing food waste through, for instance, packaging design, modifying operating environments or developing various digital food waste solutions.

Based on the project report and the material gathered from the workshops, concrete recommendations will also be made for the most effective ways to guide consumers towards a real change in consumer behavior and the reduction of food waste.

The workshops will start in October–November 2021.

Saa syödä! website has been updated

During the project Saa syödä website maintained by Motiva has been developed into a more extensive web service that compiles information related to food waste. To better serve the consumers the website has been updated to a service focused more on cooking and orthodox preservation, not forgetting the information needs of educational institutions and the media.

The revamped website provides comprehensive information on storing various foods, recipes, food waste tips and tricks as well as old familiar services such as the recipe search and the dose calculator. Most of the recipes are imported via the interface directly from the website of The Martha Organization. The fact sections have also been updated to reflect the latest research and food waste figures of Natural Resources Institute Finland.

Food waste related mobile game in development

The Rural Women’s Advisory Organisation is developing a a mobile game about food waste aimed especially for children and young people as a part of the Hävikkifoorumi project. The game will contain information related to food waste and provides tips for reducing it. The game is produced in collaboration with the computer science students of Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK). The mobile game is being developed to be a tool for teachers and others who work with children and adolescents with which they can raise awareness of food waste and address the issue with their groups.

Digital live help desk is being developed to reduce food waste

The Martha Organization will develop and implement a digital live help desk and food waste exhibition concept as a part of the project.

The project can also be found on social media! Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Note that the accounts are updated only in Finnish.