NEWS IN BRIEF

Carrefour collaborate to create a ‘Chair in Food and Nutrition’

16-Aug-2018 - Last updated on 16-Aug-2018 at 15:00 GMT

The Dean of the University, Antonio Calvo (right), and Carrefour Spain Food Sales Manager, Jorge Ybarra (left), signed the collaboration agreement. ©Carrefour

French retail giants Carrefour is to collaborate with Spain’s CEU San Pablo University to create a ‘Carrefour Chair of Food and Nutrition’ that will look at the impact of dietary trends and establish a healthy diet model.

The collaboration taps into Carrefour’s objective to lead Food Transition, placing food and nutrition research projects higher up the agenda and recognising trends in consumer behaviour that promote a healthier diet.

The Chair is set to oversee a forum for debate in which professionals in the scientific arena can discuss ongoing knowledge and research.

Additionally the Chair will look to develop training activities, scientific conferences, courses, symposiums and experts’ meetings, as well as the publication of documents or case studies on food and nutrition.

Supply chain rethink

In a press statement, Carrefour said the principal objective of the strategy was to enable the retail company to become a reference in food transition.

Through a reassessment of the firm’s supply chain, the retailer is looking to promote healthier diets while also promoting sustainability and reduce food waste at the same time.

As well as France, the company has committed to better nutrition through the Carrefour Foundation, which is currently involved in activity designed to improve nutritional status, particularly in children.

The foundation is involved in a partnership between the Huerta Nino Fundacion in Argentina, in which pupils, families and professors built 12 new gardens in 2016, enabling pupils to have more diversified and qualitative meals each day.

Carrefour collaborators also have the chance to be part of the project, with up to 20 of them volunteering in each of the gardens to build and develop them.

In China, the Carrefour Foundation and the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund (CCTF) collaborated in 2017 to improve children’s nutrition in poorer areas, providing infants and young children aged 6-24 months with protein, vitamin and mineral-enriched nutrition packs.