Food waste in focus: Revitalizing the fight during times of trouble

17 Jun 2022 --- As the war in Ukraine rages on, inflation continues to bite and supply chain disruptions go into overdrive, a perfect storm of challenges weighs heavy on the heads of businesses in the agri-food sector. Maintaining the importance of tackling food waste becomes harder – but shining a light on one of the biggest global crises in modern history is as crucial as ever. 

“It is true that currently, the pressure on businesses is profound. But we know that our partners share our view that the environmental crisis we face as a species is a priority that cannot be kicked into the long grass and that action is needed today,” Catherine David, director of collaboration & change at WRAP, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

Encouragingly, despite the list of growing problems the F&D industry is facing, sectors still prioritize the fight against food waste, stresses David. 

“Businesses are more engaged than ever as they look to reduce their own waste, help customers waste less and tackle climate change. An increased number of businesses are engaged in Courtauld, there has been an increase in redistribution, and businesses starting to take their own actions on helping customers to waste less,” she continues.

“We have seen continued and sustained action from the members of the Courtauld Commitment 2030 and from those across the supply chain toward environmental targets under the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap.” 

Fruits and vegetables, are particularly vulnerable to microbial attack and subsequent losses.US biotechnology to reduce post-harvest waste
Waste reduction is an interesting market for companies to explore. It can come in many guises, one of which is targeting post-harvest waste, targeting losses that occur throughout the supply chain from harvest to all post-harvest stages before consumption.

Reducing waste has the potential to maximize the amount of already produced food that arrives to the consumer.

In this vein, Novozymes and AgroFresh have unveiled a partnership that leverages the potential of biotechnology to improve the resistance of post-harvest products and therefore reduce food waste. 

By fighting fungal pathogens, the two companies aim for products that will be developed for post-harvest applications that will benefit growers, retailers, consumers and the environment.

Thomas Stenfeldt Batchelor, vp of Agriculture Marketing & Strategy, at Novozymes, explains how sustainable post-harvest solutions can alleviate significant supply chain issues.

“The partnership with AgroFresh brings us the opportunity to expand our BioAg offerings into the post-harvest sector, just at a time when fruit and vegetable producers face some of their toughest challenges ever,” he says. 

“This is a very exciting venture into a groundbreaking area for Novozymes – with the intention to satisfy an increasing consumer demand for fruits and vegetables with less food waste and less impact to the environment.”

As soon as crops are harvested and removed from their growing environment, they begin to lose quality and eventually deteriorate.

The fresh produce sector is also facing a labor crisis where securing staff needed for fruit picking is increasingly difficult in a post-Brexit, post-COVID-19 landscape. 

The toll of food waste on fresh produceThe Spanish government calculates that 20% of food is wasted along its production and consumption cycle.
Fresh crops, such as fruits and vegetables, are particularly vulnerable to microbial attack and subsequent losses during this post-harvest stage, which includes cooling, cleaning, sorting, and packing of the crop. 

The companies underscore that one-third of the food produced in the US is lost or wasted “before it even gets to the consumer,” with fruits and vegetables accounting for over half of this quantity.

New biological solutions will fight fungal pathogens and improve food quality. Minimizing the decay of food across the cycle. 

Reducing waste is critical, especially for products suffering shortages; like in the case of vegetable oils, International Flavors & Fragrances uses plant extract-based formulations and synergistic oxidation control solutions to reduce frying oil waste by 30%. 

Minimizing the amount of food that goes to waste means more food can go to feed people, which also reduces the pressure on the planet as less food production is needed, explains David.

According to WRAP data, 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from how we feed ourselves. In the UK, food waste costs each family £700 a year (US$859), a total cost of £19 billion (US$23.3 billion).

A report from the UN showed that 17% of food at the consumer level, or 931 million metric tons, is going to waste.

Spain fines wasteful attitudes
Meanwhile, Spain could be introducing harsh new measures to fight food waste. 

The Spanish government is working to pass legislation to reduce food waste by fining businesses up to €60,000 (US$63,065) if they don’t donate food excedents to NGOs. In case of multiple infractions, fines could mount up to half a million euros (US$526,000).

Other initiatives contemplated in the new initiative are the reduction of prices of products approaching their “best before” date and the usage of “doggy bags” for consumers to be able to take the food they have not eaten home. Restaurants will also provide food containers at no additional cost.

The Spanish government calculates that 20% of food is wasted along its production and consumption cycle, with each person wasting 31 kg of food and €250 (US$263) per year.

The new law also contemplates measures for businesses to calculate their food waste. 

“However, to approach the issue of food waste we need to ensure that the very first step is to measure food waste consistently. If we don’t measure, we have no way of knowing the scale of the issue or where to direct our action,” explains David in relation to Spain’s move.

Spain will also provide €193 million (US$203 million) to help farmers offset the harvesting consequences of the war in Ukraine. 

In the UK, food waste costs each family US$859 each year.Food packagers doing their part
Packaging is also an important part of the waste problem. The director of the Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA), Martin Kersh, recently expressed to our sister publication, PackagingInsights, his hopes that high inflation will make people think twice before wasting food. 

“No self-respecting business is going to want to waste food,” highlighted Kersh, especially referring to the hospitality sector.

According to Kersh, packaging is a “major part” of the problem of food waste and, therefore, of the solution. With the packaging industry strongly working to fight against food waste.

20 million metric tons of wheat to waste
Ukrainian wheat nears its expiration date as ongoing efforts to liberate the over 20 million metric tons of grain trapped in the sieged country silos continue.

MEPs are visiting the Poland-Ukraine border to try to accelerate plans to transport the grain using trains. However, this plan would only extract about a million tons per month, according to the EU Commission predictions. 

Silos must be emptied before the August harvest; otherwise, massive amounts of grain will rot. 

“Current concerns in the country are threefold: exporting commodities currently in silos, harvesting and storing the current crop – e.g., wheat will be harvested from June onwards, and setting up the new crop: the ability to do so could be constrained if farmers not to sell the current crop,’ Monika Tothova, UN economist for the Food and Agriculture Organization tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

By Marc Cervera