Food waste origin revealed in Finland as homes account for over a third

In Finland, more than a third of the nation’s food waste originates from homes, with restaurants accounting for approximately 16%. Annually, an estimated 400 million kilograms of edible food is discarded. According to experts, the majority of food waste arises at home, often due to a lack of trust in one’s senses when determining food quality.

To combat waste, various initiatives have been implemented in restaurants over the past eight years, including the ResQ app, where establishments can list items from their buffet tables for sale at discounted prices to minimize waste. ResQ has expanded to cover the whole country, with the highest sales of surplus food occurring in larger cities: Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Espoo, and Vantaa lead the way. However, the highest rescue percentages have been reported in other towns, with Kittilä, Rovaniemi, and Vaasa showing impressive figures.

Sebastian Wikström, CEO of ResQ Club, noted that the balance between supply and demand is crucial. In larger urban centers, while the volume of sales is higher, a lower percentage of offered food becomes waste, likely due to more varied dining options available in those areas.

Pharmacy House, a café and bakery in Vaasa, has been selling surplus food since its inception four years ago. The quantity of wasted products available for sale fluctuates significantly, particularly influenced by ongoing pandemic challenges.

ResQ currently includes around 3,000 food venues across Finland, but consumers often cannot confidently ascertain whether the food being offered is genuinely surplus, as monitoring individual restaurant practices is unattainable. The initiative aims to clearly differentiate waste from non-waste, striving to minimize any confusion around food classifications.