The 3Rs applied to fruits and vegetables surpluses: virtuous examples from Italy

When facing environmental issues associated with food waste, it is necessary to look upstream at the root causes. At the very beginning of the supply chain, there is the first cause of waste generation: unrecovered agriculture surpluses. Given the richness and diversity of farmlands, Europe is a big market for fresh fruits and vegetables, where Italy and Spain are the leading producers. In Italy, the fruits and vegetables sector represents a business of 13 billion Euros and it continues growing. Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable and their marketability as fresh products is severely limited by high quality standards. Fruits and vegetables surpluses are due to several variables like heterogeneous market demand, weather, pests, labour availability, crop gluts, production error and strict standards. Reduction strategies must be given absolute priority targeting digital agriculture techniques (agriculture 4.0), improved forecasting and detailed information exchange among all supply chain stakeholders. Such strategies must then be followed by reduction and recycling ones. In particular, the latest actions shall be focused on avoiding losses and waste generation through fruits and vegetables surpluses valorisation preferably keeping them within the food supply chain mainly through donation and processing, preferably based on green innovative technologies. This review aims to appraise existing accomplishments of fruits and vegetables surpluses minimization gleaned from 3Rs initiatives and to point out virtuous examples within the Italian fruits and vegetables production panorama.