Fighting food waste and food insecurity

Jan 16, 2025Belgium, Farm to Fork

ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected within the Food Security research line. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Robin Food, Belgium

Fighting food waste and food insecurity

Robin Food is a social initiative born in Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to limit food waste while ensuring access to healthy food for vulnerable communities. This innovative project connects Belgian farmers with surplus produce to low-income groups and social grocery stores. By processing excess fruit and vegetables into products such as soups, sauces, juices, and spreads, Robin Food ensures that good food doesn’t go to waste while helping those who need it most.

While Robin Food products are available to the general public in select supermarkets, their core mission is to support low-income families. These products are sold at affordable prices in social grocery stores, distributed to vulnerable groups, and provided to schools for their pupils. Recipes using these products are also shared on the Robin Food website to encourage healthy eating habits.

A collective effort

Robin Food began as a partnership between five organisations:

Rikolto, an international NGO promoting sustainable agriculture;
SAAMO Flemish Brabant, a non-profit focused on empowering marginalised groups;
Depot Margo, a social food distribution platform;
EIT Food, which provided funding for the project;
enVie Atelier, which processes surplus food into Robin Food products.

Since its launch in April 2020, Robin Food has evolved into a cooperative managed by a small dedicated team, though it continues to rely on collaboration with these founding partners.

The initiative has been successful in reducing food waste and ensuring access to healthy meals. The approach highlights how addressing food waste can simultaneously combat food insecurity. It has been implemented in multiple locations across Flanders, proving its replicability.