2023-10-05 00:23:01
In any place or occasion where cooking is done for many, it is inevitable to hear that well-intentioned saying “it’s better to have too much than to lack.” At the domestic level it is a good beginning. Leftovers denote generosity and are produced in manageable quantities that are easy to dispose of. Freezer, tupperware, croquettes and that’s it. However, what is evident in the collective dining rooms is that the production processes are not adjusted. So, just looking at it from a business point of view, leaving aside how ethically reprehensible it is to throw away food in perfect condition, generating food waste implies that there are inefficiencies in the internal management of catering companies in schools and hospitals. , corporate dining rooms, events…
«Despite what it may seem, they are very efficient companies, because they are the first interested in avoiding waste. But when you prepare food for hundreds or thousands of people and on top of that you have to attend to a series of protocols that ask you to have ‘stock’ in case there is any incident, it is inevitable that in the end there will be something. So zero surplus does not exist, it is impossible, but there is always room for improvement,” explains Denis Ugalde, founder of Oreka, a Biscayan startup that has created an online platform that not only allows these companies to further refine the relationship between prepared rations and those finally served, but also manages to make good use of that inevitable surplus.
Tax advantages
And bon appetit not only means that its network of collaborators fully manages the process of collecting and delivering that food to social entities, such as the Spanish Federation of Food Banks, guaranteeing at all times that adequate hygienic-sanitary conditions are met. Oreka’s technology also allows companies to document this operation and, therefore, justify their right to tax reductions linked to donations in kind. «It allows them to obtain deductions in the full quota of up to 40% of the market value of the rations they deliver. Through our application we give transparency to this process because, on the one hand, they quantify the value of each item they donate but, on the other, the social organization certifies that it receives them,” explains its creator.
Savings of up to 40%
However, when the Oreka platform truly generates value for catering companies, it is by “measuring and characterizing” the surpluses generated. «Every day you just have to spend a few seconds recording a series of data to, after just a couple of weeks, know what exactly is left over, what menus or types of portions work best, how the demand for each recipe varies. at different stages of the year. There are companies, where they have achieved better results, that after a year have managed to reduce their surpluses by 40%, but the normal thing is to reach 15% or 20%. This means buying less raw materials, reducing energy costs and perhaps even labor costs,” summarizes Ugalde.
balance
«You can translate it into social impact, because you help people who need it, or environmental, because you reduce your carbon footprint or water consumption, but what is really important are the savings it generates by allowing you to make informed decisions in the processes prior to the preparation of food. In the end, no one uses our app for charity. It does so because it improves its competitiveness,” emphasizes the founder of Oreka. His business model is based on a monthly fee that includes both the management of surpluses – delivery to social entities – and access to the technology that allows the analysis of that data.
Cost savings
«No one uses our app for charity. They do it because it improves their competitiveness.”
The firm, which expects to close the year with a turnover of over 300,000 euros, can boast of having facilitated the donation of about 45 tons of food – 150,000 portions valued at about 400,000 euros – since its creation in 2019. Its management network of food surpluses already operates regularly in four communities – the Basque Country, Galicia, Madrid and Aragón – but wants to expand to the rest so it is looking for strategic alliances and will present its project on the 17th and 18th at B-Venture, the startup forum ‘ organized by EL CORREO, which this year celebrates its eighth edition with the sponsorship of the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government, the SPRI development agency, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Bilbao City Council, as well as the collaboration of BStartup of Banco Sabadell, BBVA Spark, BBK, Laboral Kutxa, CaixaBank and the University of Deusto.
Donating food requires your stewardship
Donating ready-made food is not easy. If we deliver it in any way, without controlling, for example, the temperatures to which it has been exposed and then it causes a problem for whoever consumes it, the responsibility will be ours. So in addition to good will you have to have a certain intention. Means to ensure that it is properly preserved and handled at all times. And not only within our own facilities. Also where it is received. In short, processes and checks that lead many companies to the easy resource, the garbage container. At this point, Oreka offers a logistics network that, to begin with, looks for social entities that have the necessary facilities and organization to guarantee the correct storage of food, and then manages and monitors the entire donation process to give its clients the complete assurance that the food has been well used.
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