FCAN meeting OECD in Paris, 13.-14.11.2025

AgriDENZ topic lead for food loss and waste, Felicitas Schneider, contributed in person to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD Food Chain Analysis Network (FCAN) meeting, which took place on November 13-14, 2025, in Paris. The meeting focused on the crucial topic of evaluating Food Loss and Waste reduction strategies, including what and how to measure, as well as options for engaging stakeholders.

Thünen Institute colleague Manuela Kuntscher presented the evaluation methodology related to the yearly achievements of the German voluntary agreement between the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Identity and wholesalers and retailers in one of the break-out discussions, which she joined remotely. All sessions were filled with valuable updates on the progress of implementation evaluation at different levels of the food supply chain, case studies, and remaining challenges. The rich discussions also continued during the breaks, with various online participants from Peru, Thailand, and Spain contributing to the meeting as well. A visit to the largest Carrefour hypermarket in Europe provided practical insights into partnerships, the implementation of prevention measures, the impact of legislative frameworks, and assessments and reporting within a company. In her closing remarks, Felicitas shared her experiences on the importance of international collaboration to overcome challenges in food loss and waste prevention, which also includes the lack of harmonized indicators and evaluation methodologies.

For Felicitas it was a great opportunity to reconnect to AgriDENZ cooperation partners such as Gustavo Porpino (Embrapa Brazil), Priscila Bocchi (Brazilian Ministry of Social Development), Clementine O`Connor and Lily Laugharn from UNEP, Rachel Collie and Kotone Yamamoto from SDSN as well as other partners of the Collaboration Initiative FLW such as Mattias Eriksson from SLU, Hanna Hartikainen from LUKE, Berta Vidal from Espigoladors (both also FOLOU & Wastewise project), Liz Goodwin from WRI, Oksana Sapiga from FAO REU, Rikke Karlsson from EU Commission, Toine Timmermans from Wageningen University and Research, Claudio Beretta from ETH Zurich, Luisa Fadel from FEBA and Akif from Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic.
A big thank you to Celine Giner and her team for the very interesting event – we are looking forward to the follow-up meeting on data in February 2026.