October 16, the founding anniversary of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, is celebrated every year around the world as both World Food Day and World Bread Day, to raise awareness about global hunger, poverty, and the importance of preventing food waste. Research highlights the extent of bread waste in Turkey, where per capita bread consumption ranks among the highest. According to the Turkish Food Employers’ Association (TÜGİS), 12 million loaves of bread are wasted every day in Turkey. Nearly half of this waste occurs in households, while the other half happens in foodservice channels such as restaurants, hotels, kiosks, canteens, and cafeterias. Overproduction and purchasing more than needed are the main causes of bread waste. At this point, shelf life and portion size of bread become critical.
Frozen Bread: Thawed as Needed, No Waste
Frozen Bakery Products (DFU), which supports waste awareness efforts through the shelf life, additive-free ingredients, and portion sizes of its products, made a call for World Bread Day: “Prevent waste by using frozen bread.”
DFU, ensuring customer satisfaction in the foodservice sector with its wide product range, contributes to preventing waste by offering frozen bread options that can be thawed and baked in the required quantity, ensuring freshness and minimizing leftovers.
Ilgın Hasırcıoğlu, General Manager of DFU, stated: “We produce our portioned breads in 35–40 g sizes, which are ideal for an individual serving. This way, bread is thawed only as needed, preventing waste. It also enables serving fresh and hot bread whenever required.”
Hasırcıoğlu emphasized that bread waste, based on the average daily per capita consumption, represents a major economic loss for Turkey. He added that frozen bread, with its long shelf life and portion control, is a next-generation solution for preventing waste: “In our production processes at DFU, we strictly adhere to the specific recipes and process requirements defined for each product. This ensures consistent quality and standardized products for our customers across Turkey. Today, DFU reaches approximately 4,500 points, including restaurants, hotels, coffee chains, canteens, and mass catering service providers.”
Hasırcıoğlu also highlighted that DFU’s delicious and innovative frozen bread products help businesses reduce costs, enhance quality, and gain an operational advantage through standardization.
No Preservatives Used in Frozen Bread
Hasırcıoğlu underlined that they produce healthy breads using innovative technologies:
“Our delicious and innovative products are produced without human touch by our experienced and well-trained teams. We apply a shock-freezing process at -40°C, one of the best food preservation methods, and package our products accordingly. After shock-freezing, the products are stored at -18°C in Turkey’s first fully automated frozen storage facility, ensuring a one-year shelf life. We then deliver our products — fully baked, half-baked, or raw frozen dough — to businesses using vehicles operating at an internal temperature of -18°C, maintaining the cold chain without interruption. This eliminates all risks of spoilage. Our 35–40 g portioned breads contribute to zero-waste consumption. Importantly, we do not use any preservatives to extend shelf life, which is why our breads retain their natural freshness and taste. All our customers need to do is simply heat and serve.”