- The partners of #SinDesperdicio platform have launched a contest to identify and support innovative solutions in Colombia linked to food losses and waste in the country.
- The call will be open for applications until October 4, 2020.
- The four winning teams will receive seed capital estimated at $ 20 million Colombian pesos.
Bogota, Colombia. September 22, 2020.– The partners of the #SinDesperdicio platform have launched the #SinDesperdicioBogotá contest, which will award prizes for $20 million Colombian pesos to four innovative, viable and impactful solutions that reduce food loss and waste in Bogotá’s supply chain. The call will be open for applications until October 4, 2020.
Every year in Colombia 9.7 million tons of food are lost and wasted, enough to feed the population of Bogota during a whole year. Out of every 3 tons of food produced in the country, one ends up in the garbage. The annual cost of these losses and waste amounts to 45,365 million Colombian pesos. The #SinDesperdicioBogota contest seeks to promote innovative solutions to these challenges.
This contest is organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Bogotá Mayor’s Office alongside all the #SinDesperdicio partners, a platform committed to working so that in Latin America and the Caribbean there is no food loss or waste: FEMSA Foundation, IBM, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, Grupo Bimbo, OXXO, The Dow Chemical Company, FAO, the Consumer Goods Forum, The Global FoodBanking Network and the World Resources Institute. The contest is also the result of the collaboration with a number of key local partners, such as Wayra, Bancolombia, Innpulsa Colombia, Acción Contra el Hambre and ANDI.
“Food loss and waste have large-scale impacts on the economic, nutritional and environmental aspects. By reducing or avoiding them, we promote the efficient use of resources such as water, energy, land and labor in their production. Through #SinDesperdicio we seek to promote innovation in Latin America to generate substantive solutions to the challenges we face as a society”, said Carlos Hurtado, Sustainable Development Manager of FEMSA Foundation, which is a partner of the platform and that contributes to the generation of social value for FEMSA and its Business Units, such as Coca-Cola FEMSA and OXXO in Colombia.
Technological and social innovation can be part of the solution to this enormous challenge Bogotá is currently facing, which is why the #SinDesperdicioBogotá contest was launched. The solutions can be technological of financial, and must at least have a minimum viable product (MVP) or some market validation. Twelve finalists will be selected, who will have access to a portfolio of personalized training and mentoring led by Wayra. These finalists will have the opportunity to present a final pitch in front of a jury that will select the four winning projects, which will receive seed capital estimated at $20 million Colombian pesos.
The situation of poverty and the difficulties in ensuring access to food for the entire population, were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, making it even more necessary to solve the challenges of food loss, food waste and food security. Taking into account the areas associated with the region’s supply chain, the #SinDesperdicioBogotá contest has defined four challenges:
- #AcercaElCampo (#bringthefieldcloser)
- #MásvidaParaLaComida (#morelifeforfood)
- #RescateDeAlimentos (#foodrescue)
- #LaComidaSeTransforma (#foodtransforms)
Applications are made through the website sindesperdicio.net/concursos/bogotá, where the bases and the complete description of the contest can be found. #SinDesperdicioBogota is the fourth innovation contest promoted within this platform, after its implementation in Argentina in 2019, in Mexico in 2020 and in Central America in 2020.
About #SinDesperdicio
#SinDesperdicio is an initiative promoted by IDB in alliance with a series of partners committed to working so that in Latin America and the Caribbean there is no food loss or waste (PDA). The platform promotes four lines of action: i) innovation; ii) public policies; iii) knowledge; and iv) behavior. The partners that make up #SinDesperdicio are: IDB, Bimbo, Nestlé, FEMSA Foundation, OXXO, The Dow Chemical Company, The Coca-Cola Company, IBM, The Global FoodBanking Network, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The Consumer Goods Forum and the World Resources Institute.
About FEMSA
FEMSA is a leading company that creates economic and social value through companies and institutions and seeks to be the best employer and neighbor of the communities where it has a presence. It participates in retail trade through FEMSA Comercio, which includes the Proximity Division and of which OXXO, a chain of small format stores, is a part of. It also has a Health Division that includes pharmacies and related activities as well as a Fuel Division that operates the service stations chain, OXXO Gas. In the beverage industry it operates Coca-Cola FEMSA, public bottler of Coca-Cola products; in the beer sector, it is a shareholder of HEINEKEN, a company present in more than 70 countries. Additionally, through FEMSA’s Strategic Businesses Business Unit, it offers logistics services, point-of-sale refrigeration solutions and plastics solutions to FEMSA companies and external clients. Through its Business Units, it employs approximately 300 thousand employees in 13 countries. FEMSA is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability MILA Pacific Alliance Index, the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and the Mexican Stock Exchange Sustainable IPC, among other indices that evaluate its performance in sustainability.
About The Inter-American Development Bank’s (IBD)
Through financial and technical support for countries working to reduce poverty and inequality, the Bank helps improve health and education, and advance infrastructure. Its aim is to achieve development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way. With a history dating back to 1959, today it is the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Bank provides loans, grants, and technical assistance; and conducts extensive research.
About FEMSA Foundation
In FEMSA Foundation our goal is to create positive impacts on people and communities through social investment projects for sustainability. We make a better future for all by working in three strategic areas: the promotion of efficient resource management for sustainable development, the promotion of the integral development of early childhood and the dissemination of Latin American art and culture. For more information, visit us at www.fundacionfemsa.org or follow us on Facebook (/ FundacionFEMSA) and Twitter (@FundacionFEMSA).