ILVO wants to keep edible surplus food in the food chain

Edible surplus food still often ends up outside the food chain. Costs, logistics, and regulations make it harder to turn these surpluses into food products. ILVO outlines these obstacles in its policy brief for Flanders, dated September 24, 2026. The institute recommends regional processing centers and closer cooperation between policymakers and supply chain partners.

Flanders recorded approximately 3.2 million metric tons of food waste and byproducts in 2023. Of that total, an estimated 1.19 million metric tons was edible food loss. These figures come from the OVAM Monitor Voedselverlies. The Flemish food industry accounted for 40% of that edible food loss.

Costs and responsibilities

Financially viable processing requires a sufficient, predictable supply. However, surplus volumes fluctuate, with periods of high and low supply. That makes it harder to invest in processing, storage, and logistics.

Food safety and traceability rules apply to both donation and processing. Donors often see their product safety responsibilities as complex or risky. This can make them less willing to donate surplus food or have it processed.

Tax rules and administrative procedures can also discourage processing surpluses into food products. As a result, anaerobic digestion or destruction can sometimes be administratively simpler or financially preferable.

From surplus to soup

In the European ZeroW research project, ILVO studied the processing of surplus fruit and vegetables. One processing line could make safe soups, juices, and purees with a long shelf life. This worked with both individual products and mixed streams.

ILVO recommends regional centers for storing, transporting, and processing surplus food. These should ease the burden on donors and make surplus processing financially viable.

Up-to-date data needed

Without up-to-date, comparable data on surpluses, companies can find planning more difficult. That can complicate logistics and investment decisions. ILVO recommends secure, user-friendly systems for sharing data. Clear agreements are needed on who is allowed to use which data.

Ilvo.vlaanderen.be