In July of 2022, Longo's and Too Good To Go launched an exciting partnership to reduce food waste in their 36 GTA-based stores.Fighting Food Waste With Longo's

In July of 2022, Longo's and Too Good To Go launched an exciting partnership to reduce food waste in their 36 GTA-based stores. Since then, our community has saved over 17,000 meals from Longo's while having a positive environmental impact. To put this into perspective, saving 17,000 meals from going to waste is equivalent to:

• 45,000 kg of CO2e 🌎
• 8 flights around the world ✈️
• 307 flights from Toronto to New York! 🍎

To learn more about Longo's sustainability initiatives and how Too Good To Go is helping them reach their goals, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sara Olivieri, Longo's Sustainability Specialist. Beginning her career in the municipal government, Sara spent thirteen years in the development, coordination, monitoring and reporting of municipal sustainability plans and programs.

Dedicated to supporting organizations on their sustainability journey, Sara joined Longo’s in 2022 to continue their transformation into an industry leader in sustainable retail grocery sales. In her role, she will contribute to the development and execution of Longo’s environmental, social and governance goals. For Sara, Longo’s was a clear employer of choice with their passion for food and strong family culture, both of which are of key importance to her.

1. As a major grocery store, how important is it for Longo’s to reduce food waste on a daily basis?

"Reducing food waste is one of the most important ways Longo’s can reduce our environmental impact. When food enters a landfill, it emits methane (a greenhouse gas) as is decomposes which is 28 times stronger than CO2 in terms of its contribution to climate change. With our goal to divert 90% of waste from landfill from our stores and distribution centres by 2025, it is critical that we employ different strategies to keep food sold in our stores out of landfill daily."

2. How does partnering with Too Good To Go help Longo’s achieve their food waste sustainability pillar?

"We use several strategies to reduce food waste at Longo’s which include inventory management, markdowns, upcycling (creating new, high-quality products with surplus food), donations and diversion (organics recycling). Our partnership with Too Good To Go is an incredibly innovative strategy to accelerate our mission to reduce food waste and we are thrilled with the partnership and its success thus far!"

3. When it comes to filling Surprise Bags, how do you choose which items go into them?

"We have two types of Surprise Bags, prepared foods and bakery. For the prepared foods bag, the goal is to create a balanced bag which offers our Guests a meal solution. For example, our Prepared Foods Bags (valued at $24) could include two burritos, a meal sized salad and a small fruit salad and would retail for $7.99. The bakery bag could include a loaf of bread, small buns, strudel and mini danishes."

4. Can you share any tips for people who would like to reduce their food waste at home?

"As a mom of two young kids, I can offer several tips for people who would like to reduce their food waste at home. Only buying what you need would be my top tip! Additionally, understanding date labels is very important – pay attention to ‘best before’ versus ‘expiration’ dates. Many times, I’ve googled tips and tricks to store food to keep it fresh, which can be extremely helpful and extend the life of those fruits and veggies no one wanted to eat this week. If we have extra food that I know will go to waste, I’ve purchased a new product that the kids just won’t eat, or if they’ve lost interest in their usual favourites, I’ll pass it on to family members or friends or donate the nonperishable items to a local food bank."

5. Every day in Canada, we waste 640,000 bananas! Can you share a signature Longo’s recipe to help us get creative in the kitchen and avoid waste?

"Longo’s has a recipe that uses both those over ripe bananas AND the peels! Check it out below:"

Ingredients 🍌

• 1 very ripe banana
• ¾ cup sugar
  
• 5 tbs Longo's Essentials Country Churned Butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup Longo’s Organic Whole Grain Flour
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp Longo’s Sea Salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Lightly spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan with Longo’s Canola Oil Cooking Spray.
2. Prepare one very ripe banana (fresh and VERY squishy or frozen and defrosted) by washing it thoroughly. Remove the stem. Remember this recipe uses the banana and the peel - so no need to peel it!
3. Place the banana with the peel in the blender. If it isn't quite falling apart yet, cut it into chunks before blending it. If it appears too thick to really break up, add one to two tablespoons of water. You should blend it until the peel is in very tiny chunks (but you'll still be able to see black spots).
4. In a bowl, mix the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Add egg, vanilla, and pureed banana mixture. Mix until incorporated, scraping down the edges of the bowl as needed.
6. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
8. Place mixture into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes.

6. Reducing Food Waste is just one of Longo's many sustainability goals - can you talk about some of the other sustainability pillars Longo's is focusing on?

"Our Sustainability Strategy is comprised of three key pillars – Environmental Stewardship, Responsible Sourcing and Healthy, Happy People. We feel a responsibility to do our part to reduce our emissions and to limit climate change. Greenhouse gas reduction continues to be a major focus for 2022 within our Environmental Stewardship pillar. This includes retrofitting our refrigeration systems, expanding electric vehicle infrastructure, producing solar energy at our retail stores and Support Centre and reducing water use. Learn more about our Sustainability Strategy and key pillars in our 2021 Sustainability Report."

Thanks so much to Sara and the Longo's team for their commitment to sustainability and reducing food waste! We look forward to making even more of an impact together in the future.

Ready to save prepared meals or baked goods from Longo's? Browse the app to find your local Longo's and be sure to tap the 💚 icon on the top right of their profile to save them to your list of favourites!