Economy 24 February 2026, 10:37am

Mayor Gergely Karácsony has announced that the Hungarian capital has been named one of the 24 winners of the international Mayors Challenge. The competition, which covers the period 2025–2026, aims to encourage municipal innovation and improve public services.

The 24 winners represent 20 countries and over 35 million residents. Selected from more than 630 applications, Bloomberg Philanthropies considered prototypes developed by 50 cities during the finalist phase, when each pressure-tested core hypotheses with residents.

The 24 winning ideas were ultimately chosen for their novelty, potential impact, and strength of implementation plans,

Bloomberg Philantropies said in a statement.

Winners include major cities from around the world, with Barcelona (housing and infrastructure), Toronto (food systems) and Cape Town (housing and infrastructure) among them.

As a winner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge, Budapest will shift from treating food waste as a disposal problem to a public resource,

said Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony.

“With the backing of the programme,

we will purchase two tonnes of surplus produce every day, keep thousands of tonnes out of landfills, and shorten supply chains for public kitchens

—supporting local farmers while delivering healthier meals to children, seniors, and more residents who need them most," he added.

The project's raison d'être lies in the contradiction between drastic food price increases and waste. Karácsony stated that prices in Budapest have risen by 81% in six years, setting a record even at the EU level. This makes it increasingly challenging to provide affordable yet healthy and varied meals in public catering.

Meanwhile, up to 135,000 tonnes of fresh produce may go unsold in the capital's markets each year.

This is an unsustainable practice: valuable resources are being wasted while disadvantaged social groups struggle to access nutritious food.

Thanks to this support, the two-year programme will be launched in the coming months. The programme's central element is the establishment of the Capital Processing Centre, where surplus but high-quality fruit and vegetables will be processed into semi-finished and finished products.

Food produced in this way will be distributed to institutions run by the capital city. Beneficiaries include almost twenty retirement homes and other social institutions, as well as school catering services. Through the Catering Service Management Organisation (ÉSZGSZ) network, more than 16,000 students and 2,000 adults are provided with meals every day, amounting to 1.7 million meals per year.

Cover photo: MTI Photo/Zoltán Balogh