Re-branding bread to improve quality of production and reduce food waste

Re-Breading — Re-branding bread to improve quality of production and reduce food waste is an Erasmus+ KA2 project (Project number: 2021–1-LT01-KA220-VET-000034891) that started in February 2022 and has a duration of 24 months.

The ReBreading project seeks to contribute meaningfully to the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy outlined in the European Green Deal, and envisions the creation of not simply sustainable, but also new, healthier and more nutritious options for bread production & consumption. ReBreading will provide necessary tools, now-how and incentives for new bread-making professionals, recently graduated or present students, that wish to work in the artisan sector of bread-making, to both respond to new labour market demands and become agents of green change.

Emphasizing the importance of understanding the ingredients and adopting sustainable production methods, Re-Breading goal is to reduce food waste and face obesity. The target group will undertake a participative learning path to strengthen their competences and acquire new ones, with the final aim of supporting the bakery sector to become “green” agents in their work environment and impact the habits of the consumers. The project challenge is to tackle food waste and at the same time provide healthier and more nutritious options for bread production. Therefore, this sector must increasingly be approached with a view of enhancing the cultural and natural heritage.

By re-branding the identity and increasing the nutritional quality of bread products, the project aims at:

• Increasing nutritional, green, and management skills of professional staff and students of bakery sector.
• Provide scientific knowledge to the new baker professionals related to the nutritional value of the bread products, and how kneading, fermentation and other techniques can impact their quality.
• Impact the habits of the consumers and raise “green” consciousness by providing them local, nutritional, and healthy bakery products.

The target groups of the project are:

• Professional bakers, students or recently graduated from baking schools
• VET organisations and educators, academic institutions
• NGOs and Local authorities
• Dietary professionals, doctors

Project progress One of the key objectives of Re-Breading is to design and develop an innovative learning and capacity building program that will address the needs of potential artisan bakers. As such, research was carried out in each partner country (Lithuania, Poland, Ireland Cyprus, Greece, Turkey) and a market analysis of bread and bakery goods was conducted. Moreover, sustainable practices and local materials were identified as well as traditional products. Based on the research, an innovative training curriculum addressing food waste, quality and nutrition among bakery products is in progress.

Partners’ meetings The partners met for the kick-off meeting of the project in July 2022, in Athens, Greece. They discussed the initial steps of the project and set some milestones for the next months.

The second partners meeting will take place in March, in Cyprus and the project’s progress will be discussed, as well as the Training Curriculum for in-potentia professional bakers will be finalized.