Highlights from the ROSETTA International Networking Event in Bratislava. Our pilots, international initiatives, and stakeholders came together to accelerate solutions reducing food waste linked to marketing standards across Europe.
At the ROSETTA International Networking Event held on 29 January 2026, we welcomed more than 70 people from Europe and beyond. Both online and onsite participants joined us in Bratislava, where we could engage with a wide variety of different stakeholders. They included researchers, food businesses, retailers, start-ups, and civil society organisations from more than 20 European countries and beyond.
Rather than focusing only on presentations, the event created dedicated moments for dialogue and collaboration. To ensure this, PEDAL Consulting, our organising partner, designed hybrid matchmaking tools, facilitated networking sessions, and informal exchanges. These sessions enabled participants to explore shared challenges, identify complementary expertise, and initiate potential cooperation across regions and sectors.
A closing networking lunch provided additional space to deepen these connections and reflect on next steps. Participants had also the chance to explore our latest progress, presented by Q-PLAN, including the Digital Toolkit and the Community of Practice. Both will further support knowledge sharing, stakeholder dialogue, and the uptake of solutions beyond individual pilot contexts.
From experiments to sustainable food-waste solutions
A central focus of the event was the exchange of insights emerging from our pilot use cases. They were presented by our partners working directly with businesses, supply chains, and consumers. In Spain, Lluís Puig (Freshis) reflected on lessons from the fruit and vegetables pilot, focusing on the valorisation of cosmetically imperfect produce into new commercial products. It clearly demonstrates revenue potential, strong customer acceptance, and measurable environmental benefits – turning what might be discarded into tangible value. Knud Hjortlund Hansen from Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, presented the Danish Pilot focused on dairy products, done in collaboration with Naturmaelk. He highlighted how supply-chain coordination combined with behavioural nudges can substantially reduce waste. Moreover, it also showed that long-term impact depends on sustained automation, alignment, and collaboration among partners. The Irish team, represented by Angelo Galatolo from TEAGASC, presented their work on fruit and vegetables valorisation pathways. The results confirmed consumer openness to upcycled foods and scalable opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), alongside the continued importance of supportive market and policy environments. In Poland, the cereals pilot presented by Julia Zabrzeska (Unimos Alliance) demonstrated that re-valorising by-products into food ingredients can achieve full market uptake. Especially when transparency, stakeholder engagement, and education accompany innovation.
Across regions and commodities, a shared conclusion emerged: foods that fall outside marketing standards can still create significant value. Yet barriers such as operational complexity, consumer perception, logistics constraints, and regulatory fragmentation continue to challenge large-scale adoption.
Connecting complementary initiatives across Europe
The discussion extended beyond our pilots through contributions from external initiatives working at the intersection of behaviour, circular economy, and policy. The Date Labelling Coalition, presented by Zoë Verdaasdonk, illustrates how confusion around date labels alone may contribute to around 10% of food waste. She also underlined the prevention potential of clearer communication and packaging guidance.
Insights from CYRKL, presented by Zuzana Špuntová, showed how improved logistics, sorting, and reporting can transform waste management from a cost into economic and environmental value for large-scale food operations. Finally, Dr Gyula Kasza shared perspectives from Hungary’s Wasteless organisation. He emphasisedthe role of multidisciplinary research, long-term monitoring, and EU-level policy engagement in enabling systemic food-waste reduction.
Looking ahead
The International Networking Event represents another milestone as we move toward the next phase of activities focused on validation, promotion and further uptake of the validated solutions:
National policy and business roundtables in Poland, Greece, Denmark, Spain, and Ireland – spring 2026
International roundtables on policy and business recommendations in Brussels – June 2026
Mutual learning events and demonstration missions across the MIP regions – spring–summer 2026
ROSETTA Final Conference – autumn 2026, location to be confirmed
Together, we will continue to transform evidence into action, supporting the transition to more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive European food systems. Stay with us to learn about how you can be part of a broader ecosystem of food waste warriors and innovators – and ensure a real exploitation of our shared solutions.
