Save Food, a campaign that looks to curb global food loss, now is accepting official sponsors for its international corporate campaign.

The campaign was launched by Werner M. Dornscheidt, president and ceo of Messe Düsseldorf, during the World Food Day. The event was held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome.

SAVE FOOD – a collaborative initiative of the FAO and Messe Düsseldorf – got underway in May at the interpack 2011 trade fair with an international congress where experts from industry, politics and society discussed the extent, reasons and possible solutions for food loss.

The campaign’s next phrase involves combining the various activities presented at the congress. SAVE FOOD will look to spread information to companies, NGOs, private individuals and networking stakeholders and will promote concrete international projects.

Werner M. Dornscheidt explained the goals of the campaign.

“We want to solve global problems by harnessing the power... of industry – doing what we do best: networking internationally, publicizing issues worldwide and bringing experts from industry together. In other words, creating marketplaces,” explains Dornscheidt.

The Food and Agriculture Organization has high expectations for the partnership:

“We can find solutions only by working together with industry,” says Modibó Traoré, assistant director-general of the FAO. “We now look forward to good contacts with this sector and the concrete projects of the SAVE FOOD initiative.”

The scale of food loss still remains unknown and successful strategies for preventing have not been conclusively established.

However, the Food and Agriculture Organization did publish the first studies on the topic. They show that worldwide food loss reaches 1.3 billion tons per year, or about a third of all food production. All indicators point to packaging solutions as playing a major role in reducing food loss, particularly in developing countries.

An agreement has already been reached for a continuing cooperation between the FAO (which immediately after the SAVE FOOD congress in Düsseldorf set up a working group devoted to the subject) and Messe Düsseldorf/interpack.

“The positive response and the lively discussions here in Rome show that we are approaching the issue of food loss from the right angle,” says Bernd Jablonowski, project director of interpack. “We will now pool the resources of all the partners.”

With the campaign now open to industry, two companies from the packaging sector - BOSCH Packaging Technology and MULTIVAC Sepp Haggenmüller - already have pledged their support. Candy Industry magazine has also committed to becoming a media sponsor.

Companies, NGOs and private individuals interested in joining SAVE FOOD as sponsors will find all the information on the initiative and the application form at www.save-food.org.