UK supermarkets join forces to call for mandatory reporting on food waste

20 Mar 2024 --- British retail giants Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and Sainsbury’s are advocating for urgent government action on food waste through compulsory public food waste reporting in an “open letter” to UK environment secretary Steve Barclay.

The letter — signed by over thirty companies — is penned by anti-food waste organization Too Good To Go in collaboration with the British Retail Consortium.

Discarded food costs the UK economy £21.8 billion (US$27.7 billion) annually and contributes to 10% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. The companies want the British government to adopt Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12.3 to halve per capita food waste by 2030.

Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To Go, calls for immediate action at a time when 40% of all food produced globally goes to waste, leaving “no room for half-hearted measures or commitments a decade away.”

"In the UK, each year we throw away 12.5 million tonnes of food valued at £20.8 billion (pre and post farm gate combined) (WRAP, 2020 and WWF, 2022)," he tells Food Ingredients First.

"Mandatory public food waste reporting is one of the most meaningful and cost-effective policies that can be introduced to reduce food waste. The government has an opportunity to lead the way in the fight against food waste by introducing mandatory food waste reporting and we hope it will seize this chance.”

Mandatory food waste reporting is vital for meaningful impact, says Crummie (Image credit: Too Good To Go). The unified effort also includes signatories from the UK’s food, retail and manufacturing sectors like Waitrose, Danone, Nestlé and Abel and Cole, among others.

Insufficiency despite progress
The letter points out advancements that propel food waste management, such as “AI and innovative tools,” “improved staff training and opportunities” and “partnerships with surplus food marketplaces.”

"Technology and data are vital for retailers to improve their sustainability. Analyzing data helps manage inventory, reduce waste and improve efficiency," explains Crummie.

One example is Too Good To Go’s AI-powered solution that helps supermarkets verify the expiry date of food products to reduce the number of expired products on shelves. It has also joined hands with prominent supermarket chains like Aldi and Coop to help them generate revenue from surplus food, the company’s CEO told Food Ingredients First earlier this year.

Other initiatives include Sainsbury’s and Lidl scrapping the “use by” labels on their dairy products to prevent edible food from being thrown away.

But the letter flags the insufficiency of individual businesses in “tackling the issue alone.” 

“We need mandatory food waste reporting to help measure and judge if meaningful impact is being achieved and to encourage more action to be taken across the whole industry,” reads a statement in the letter.

The signatories emphasize it is imperative for the industry to act through more data-driven strategies, driving efficiencies and fostering collaboration and economic growth.

The letter ends by hailing mandatory food waste reporting as a “pragmatic solution” which will benefit the industry, natural environment and the UK economy.

Anti-waste NGO WRAP's research says selling apples, bananas and potatoes loose, could save 60,000 tons of food waste.“What gets measured, gets managed”
While the F&B industry is trying to manage food waste through the UK Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, retailers need to understand their “waste hotspots” and where to redistribute surplus food, flags Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC.

“Mandatory reporting will enable greater transparency across the supply chain. Retailers will continue to engage with the government to ensure that the system works for all stakeholders and that it aligns across the four UK nations.”

As per Crummie, the first step for countries and food chain operators to take "meaningful food waste reduction action" is to actually measure current levels of food waste and publicly report them so they can act to eliminate waste.

"Mandatory reporting is also a policy wanted by industry, not just campaigners. The likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Nestle and many others are in favor of the policy and are signatories of our open letter. And of the large businesses responding to the 2022 Government consultation, two thirds supported the policy."

Liz Fox, national sustainability director at Aldi UK, agrees that mandatory food waste reporting would be a “significant step forward” in tackling the critical issue.

Meanwhile, Hannah Cornick, head of sustainability and social Innovation at Danone UK & Ireland, remarks that “what gets measured, gets managed.” 

“Mandatory reporting would help improve visibility of food waste across the industry, highlighting it as both a business and wider sustainability issue that we should all be focused on managing.”

Mindset shift
Too Good To Go's vision is for a planet with no food waste, states Crummie. "Such a huge goal involves working at all levels, and a mindset shift needs to happen en mass."

"A crucial part of this is our belief that every small behaviour change adds up to make a big impact - whether it’s encouraging more companies to adapt their business models and implement food waste solutions like ours, lobbying governments to introduce more comprehensive and ambitious food waste policies, or giving individuals tips for reducing their food waste at home when cooking."

"Only by transforming current practices and promoting a sustainable food system from start to end will we be able to achieve the goal of no food waste," he concludes. 

British government urges food businesses to manage surplus by donations to charities, schools and food banks.Ongoing efforts
Regulations set by the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs instruct food businesses to prevent and manage food and drink waste through measures like preventing surplus, making animal feed from former food, recycling (anaerobic digestion or for composting) and redistributing surplus items to charities, food banks and schools.

The F&B industry is also honing in on innovations and technology to target food waste in a bid to reduce pressure on the planet.

Last week, Food Ingredients First spoke with Israel-based firm PhenOlives, which has developed a new method for waste management in the olive oil sector by stopping the oil’s oxidation. The technique is expected to promote circularity within the industry by reducing waste and environmental damage.

International Flavors & Fragrances also reduces frying oil waste by 30% through controlled oxidation by leveraging plant extract-based formulations.

Novozymes and AgroFresh previously partnered to tap into biotechnology to improve the resistance of post-harvest fruits and vegetables, in turn reducing food waste.

Meanwhile, the packaging industry is also doing its bit to manage waste, with innovations like modified atmosphere packaging keeping food fresh for longer to prevent it from ending up in landfills.

By Insha Naureen