Unitec is awarded the Italian ?Oscar? for sustainability in the category ?Companies?

UNITEC, an Italian company that operates in more than 60 countries and specializes in the design and manufacturing of technologies for the processing, sorting, quality selection and packing of fruit and vegetables, today has received in Padua the innovative and virtuous company award for its food waste reduction policies. The company has won, in the category “Companies”, the fourth edition of "Vivere a Spreco Zero", organized by Last Minute Market, a spin-off of the University of Bologna, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment. The jury - chaired by the founder of Last Minute Market Andrea Segrè and composed of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment Barbara Degani, the journalists Antonio Cianciullo, Marco Fratoddi, Massimo Cirri and Elizabeth Tedeschi from Conapi Comunicazione and Eliana Farotto from Comieco - chose Unitec among many companies of the agro-industrial sector because of the technological content of its solutions, that combine correct quality selection with new parameters such as hardness, sweetness and Brix degree, besides the typical ones such as size, color and shape. "Our solutions - says Angelo Benedetti, President of Unitec – allow packing houses to match their own offer with consumers’ preferences, and therefore eliminate the considerable waste caused by the inconsistency between supply and demand". These technologies prevent the fruit and vegetable waste that now, according to recent surveys of the Waste Watcher Observatory* of Last Minute Market, are among the most wasted food items in Italy, due to a "buying binge" and a "poor food preservation". According to 2016 survey, the food that most often ends up in the trash is fruit (31%), followed by salad (29%), vegetables (19%) and bread (17%). "This prestigious prize - adds Angelo Benedetti, President of Unitec - rewards our efforts that aim, on one hand, to allow our clients to improve the quality classification and efficiency of their processes and, on the other hand, to create benefits for the whole supply chain, from packing houses to the final consumer, ensuring constant quality levels over time and thus reducing food waste too". Active since 1924, Unitec has branches in France, Spain, USA, South Africa, Chile, Turkey and Argentina and in its nearly century-old history has brought to market technologies for the processing of more than 35 types of fruit and vegetables with over 20 specific sorting systems. * Waste Watcher is the permanent Observatory on food waste in Italy established by Last Minute Market, a spin-off of the University of Bologna. The Observatory surveys are conducted in partnership with SWG. More information