It’s found that one third of food produced globally goes to waste, as well as 1.6 million tonnes of waste coming from food manufacturers in 2021 from the UK alone. There are also issues with the ways consumers buy foods, where Andrew mentions that like most shoppers, he looks for the best use-by and display until dates when he does his weekly shops to prolong the life of his purchases.
This creates a challenge for tackling food waste as it results in either:
With food manufacturers, when creating the dates their food products need to be eaten by, they’ll carry out testing in environments set at zero degrees, then give a couple of days leeway for consumption.
We as consumers can maximise the life of our products by storing it properly. When we think of items like raw and cooked meat for example, by knowing how to best keep it fresh, it can be consumed past the use-by date.
Food ranges such as dairy can be used past its expiry date, however, supermarkets are only just starting to change their labels on items like milk from ‘use-by’ to ‘best-before’. An example we use is Morrisons, who are tweaking their labels to help prevent millions of pints from being thrown away. This shows there’s still a long way to go for the food industry to stop this kind of waste from happening, and the need for more consumer awareness around the issues of food waste.
When dealing with natural products, they’re all unique compared to raw materials in manufacturing, for instance. A lot of suppliers are tied down to tight specifications, especially when it comes to quality control, which results in a substantial amount of waste. By using products that have grown differently per se, such as wonky fruit and veg, you should be finding new ways to incorporate these items into your product lines to help reduce food waste.
Here, we explore some of the key food waste reduction strategies for your organisation to take on board:
Our guide looks at what’s in store for the future of the food industry. It explores topics such as the top consumer and process trends so you can ensure your food business stays relevant, agile and resilient to any changes in the sector.
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