Interview: practitioners on food waste reduction

Approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted globally each year—representing roughly one-third of all food produced for human consumption—while simultaneously generating 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As practitioners across the food value chain grapple with this staggering inefficiency, the conversation has shifted from awareness to action, with leading companies now demonstrating that food waste reduction isn't merely an ethical imperative but a significant driver of operational excellence and profitability. In our discussions with sustainability directors, supply chain managers, and technology officers across three continents, a consistent theme emerged: the organizations achieving measurable results are those that have moved beyond aspirational targets to implement rigorous measurement frameworks, integrated digital solutions, and cross-functional accountability structures.

Why It Matters

The global food waste crisis has reached inflection point status in 2024-2025, with regulatory pressure, investor scrutiny, and consumer expectations converging to create unprecedented momentum for action. According to the United Nations Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report 2024, food waste at the retail and consumer levels alone accounts for 931 million tonnes annually, with an additional 400 million tonnes lost during production and supply chain stages. The economic implications are equally staggering: the Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that food loss and waste costs the global economy approximately $940 billion per year in direct economic losses, with externalized environmental costs adding another $700 billion.

From a climate perspective, if food waste were a country, it would rank as the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States. The IPCC's 2024 supplementary report emphasized that addressing food loss and waste represents one of the highest-impact mitigation opportunities available, with potential emissions reductions of 8-10% of total global emissions by 2050 if current waste levels are halved in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.

The regulatory landscape has transformed dramatically. The European Union's Farm to Fork Strategy has established binding food waste reduction targets, requiring member states to achieve 10% reduction at processing and manufacturing levels and 30% reduction at retail and consumer levels by 2030. In the United States, the EPA and USDA's updated National Food Loss and Waste Strategy 2024 has introduced mandatory reporting requirements for large food manufacturers and retailers. Meanwhile, emerging economies including India, Brazil, and Indonesia have implemented their own national food waste reduction frameworks, signaling global policy convergence.

For investors, food waste has emerged as a material ESG factor. A 2024 analysis by MSCI found that companies with comprehensive food waste reduction programs demonstrated 15-23% higher profit margins in food-related sectors compared to peers without such programs. The correlation between waste reduction capabilities and supply chain resilience has become particularly pronounced following pandemic-era disruptions and ongoing climate-related supply shocks.

Key Concepts

CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive): The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, effective January 2024, mandates detailed disclosure of environmental impacts including food waste metrics for companies meeting specified thresholds. Under CSRD, organizations must report on their food waste generation, reduction targets, and progress using standardized European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). For food sector companies, this includes disclosure of waste volumes across the value chain, methodologies for measurement, and third-party verification requirements. Practitioners interviewed emphasized that CSRD has fundamentally changed the conversation from voluntary disclosure to compliance-driven measurement.

Digital Product Passport (DPP): A digital product passport is a comprehensive data carrier that tracks a product's journey from origin to end-of-life, storing information on ingredients, processing conditions, storage requirements, and remaining shelf life. In food waste contexts, DPPs enable dynamic expiration date management, optimized inventory rotation, and targeted redistribution of near-date products. The EU's planned DPP regulation, expected to cover food products by 2027, will require standardized data formats enabling interoperability across supply chains. Early adopters report that DPP implementation has reduced spoilage-related waste by 18-25% in pilot programs.

Certification (Food Waste Reduction): Third-party certification schemes validate organizational claims regarding food waste reduction performance. Leading certifications include the Food Loss and Waste Protocol's FLW Standard, Champions 12.3 membership requirements, and emerging ISO standards for food waste management systems. Certification provides credibility for sustainability claims, meets procurement requirements from major buyers, and increasingly satisfies regulatory compliance obligations. Practitioners noted that certification processes themselves drive internal discipline and continuous improvement.

Resilience (Supply Chain): In food waste contexts, resilience refers to a supply chain's capacity to maintain product quality and minimize waste during disruptions. This encompasses predictive demand forecasting accuracy, cold chain infrastructure redundancy, supplier diversification, and rapid redistribution capabilities. High-resilience supply chains demonstrate <5% variance in waste rates during disruption events compared to >25% variance in low-resilience systems. Building resilience requires investment in data infrastructure, flexible logistics partnerships, and scenario planning capabilities.

EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility): Extended Producer Responsibility frameworks shift end-of-life management obligations to producers, including organic waste treatment and packaging recovery. France's AGEC law exemplifies EPR application to food waste, requiring producers to finance collection and composting infrastructure. EPR programs create financial incentives for source reduction—preventing waste rather than managing it—and have driven innovation in packaging design, portion sizing, and shelf-life extension technologies.

What's Working and What Isn't

What's Working

AI-Powered Demand Forecasting: Companies implementing machine learning-based demand forecasting are achieving step-change improvements in order accuracy. Tesco's partnership with Blue Yonder has reduced fresh produce waste by 27% through granular store-level predictions incorporating weather, local events, and historical patterns. The key insight from practitioners is that forecasting accuracy improvements of even 2-3 percentage points translate to 15-20% reductions in perishable waste, given the tight margins in fresh categories.

Dynamic Pricing and Redistribution Platforms: The integration of markdown optimization software with surplus redistribution networks has created win-win solutions. Retailers using platforms like Flashfood, Too Good To Go, and OLIO report that 60-70% of near-date products that would have been discarded are now sold or donated, generating both revenue recovery and waste diversion. Kroger's Zero Hunger Zero Waste initiative demonstrated that systematic surplus management could divert over 500 million pounds of food to communities while improving store-level profitability.

Cold Chain Visibility and IoT Integration: Real-time temperature monitoring and predictive analytics have transformed cold chain management. Practitioners from Walmart's supply chain team shared that IoT sensor deployment across their distribution network reduced temperature excursions by 40% and associated spoilage by 22%. The critical success factor identified was integration with automated response protocols—sensors that trigger corrective actions rather than merely generating alerts.

Standardized Measurement and Target-Setting: Organizations participating in the 10x20x30 initiative and Champions 12.3 report that public commitment to standardized targets creates accountability structures that drive results. Interviews with participants revealed that the discipline of consistent measurement—using the FLW Standard methodology—often surfaces previously invisible waste streams and enables root-cause analysis. IKEA's food operations achieved 54% reduction in food waste between 2017 and 2024 through rigorous measurement combined with operational redesign.

What Isn't Working

Voluntary Industry Initiatives Without Accountability: Multiple practitioners expressed frustration with industry coalitions that emphasize pledges over performance. Analysis of voluntary commitment programs reveals that <30% of signatories achieve stated targets, with many failing to publish progress reports. The absence of financial consequences or procurement implications undermines effectiveness. As one sustainability director noted, "We've signed five different pledges, but only the ones with customer audit requirements actually changed our operations."

Technology Deployment Without Process Redesign: A recurring failure pattern involves technology implementations that overlay digital solutions onto unchanged processes. Companies that purchased demand forecasting software but retained legacy ordering workflows, or installed IoT sensors without revising quality control protocols, reported minimal impact on waste rates. Practitioners emphasized that successful technology adoption requires concurrent process reengineering and often organizational restructuring.

Consumer-Focused Interventions at Scale: Despite significant investment in consumer education campaigns, measurable household food waste reduction remains elusive. Behavioral interventions struggle to achieve lasting impact outside controlled pilot contexts. WRAP's analysis of UK consumer programs found that awareness had reached saturation—>90% of consumers expressed concern about food waste—but this awareness showed weak correlation with behavioral change. Practitioners increasingly advocate for upstream interventions (portion sizing, date label reform, packaging innovation) rather than downstream consumer campaigns.

Key Players

Established Leaders

Nestlé: The world's largest food company has committed to halving food waste in its operations by 2030, with transparent annual reporting through its CSV framework. Nestlé's pioneering work on date label simplification has influenced industry-wide practices.

Walmart: Through Project Gigaton and its domestic Zero Waste operations, Walmart has diverted over 80% of operational waste from landfill while developing supplier scorecards that incorporate waste metrics into procurement decisions.

Tesco: The UK retailer leads in transparency, publishing detailed food waste data since 2013 and achieving 47% reduction in own-operations waste. Tesco's redistribution partnerships serve as a model for competitor programs.

Carrefour: The French retailer's "Act for Food" program has integrated food waste reduction across 30+ countries, with particular innovation in dynamic pricing and surplus management in emerging markets.

Sodexo: As a global food services provider, Sodexo's WasteWatch program has deployed measurement technology across 3,000+ sites globally, demonstrating that food waste reduction is achievable in high-complexity institutional settings.

Emerging Startups

Apeel Sciences: This California-based company has developed plant-derived coatings that extend produce shelf life by 2-3x, addressing one of the highest-waste categories in the food system.

Winnow Solutions: London-headquartered Winnow's AI-powered kitchen waste tracking systems have been deployed across 2,000+ commercial kitchens, demonstrating average waste reductions of 50%.

Full Harvest: This B2B marketplace connects farmers with buyers for cosmetically imperfect produce, having rescued over 40 million pounds of produce from waste since its founding.

Afresh Technologies: Afresh's AI platform for fresh food ordering has demonstrated 25% waste reduction across grocery retail partners, with particular strength in produce and prepared foods categories.

Lumitics: Singapore-based Lumitics provides computer vision systems for automatic waste classification and measurement in food service operations across Asia-Pacific markets.

Key Investors & Funders

S2G Ventures: This specialist food and agriculture investor has deployed significant capital into food waste reduction technologies, including investments in Apeel and Full Harvest.

Closed Loop Partners: Their circular economy-focused funds have supported food waste infrastructure including composting, anaerobic digestion, and surplus redistribution platforms.

The Rockefeller Foundation: Through the Food Initiative, Rockefeller has funded foundational research and pilot programs in food loss reduction across developing economies.

European Investment Bank: The EIB has emerged as a major funder of food waste infrastructure projects under the EU Green Deal, providing concessional financing for processing facilities.

Generation Investment Management: Al Gore's sustainable investing firm has taken positions in multiple food waste technology companies, signaling mainstream investor appetite for the sector.

Examples

Example 1: IKEA's Systematic Waste Halving IKEA Food Services implemented a comprehensive waste reduction program across 400+ stores globally, combining Winnow's AI waste tracking with menu redesign and portion optimization. Between 2017 and 2024, IKEA achieved 54% reduction in food waste per customer served, translating to over 30,000 tonnes of waste prevented annually. The program required an initial investment of €3 million in technology and training but generated €12 million in annual savings through reduced purchasing and disposal costs. Critical success factors included store manager incentive alignment, weekly waste reviews at store level, and integration of waste metrics into operational KPIs.

Example 2: Carrefour Brazil's Fresh Category Transformation Carrefour's Brazilian operations faced 12% waste rates in fresh produce—double the company's European benchmarks. Through implementation of dynamic pricing algorithms, supplier delivery window optimization, and partnership with food banks for same-day redistribution, Carrefour Brazil reduced fresh waste to 4.8% within 18 months. The program diverted 15,000 tonnes annually to food-insecure communities while recovering R$45 million in revenue from products that would have been discarded. Key learnings included the importance of store-level empowerment for markdown decisions and the value of real-time inventory visibility across the distribution network.

Example 3: Sodexo's Healthcare Division Waste Reduction Sodexo's healthcare food services division, serving 1,200+ hospitals globally, implemented portion-controlled serving systems combined with patient-ordering technology that allows meal customization. This demand-driven approach reduced plate waste by 42% compared to traditional tray-line service. Environmental benefits included 25,000 tonnes of CO2e avoided annually, while cost savings of $18 million per year demonstrated the business case. The implementation required significant change management given clinical workflow constraints, with success dependent on early engagement of nursing staff and clinical nutrition teams.

Action Checklist

• Implement standardized food waste measurement using the FLW Standard methodology across all operations, establishing baseline data within 90 days
• Deploy real-time waste tracking technology in highest-waste facilities, prioritizing fresh and prepared food categories
• Integrate demand forecasting accuracy metrics into supply chain KPIs, with accountability at buyer and store manager levels
• Establish partnerships with at least two surplus redistribution channels (food banks, discount apps, animal feed) for near-date product management
• Review date labeling practices against WRAP and FDA best-practice guidelines, simplifying to single-date formats where feasible
• Conduct cold chain vulnerability assessment, identifying temperature excursion hotspots and implementing IoT monitoring at critical points
• Develop supplier scorecards that incorporate food waste metrics, integrating waste performance into procurement decisions
• Align management incentive structures to include food waste reduction targets, ensuring operational accountability
• Prepare CSRD-compliant disclosure frameworks for food waste metrics, including third-party verification protocols
• Join industry collaboration platforms (Champions 12.3, 10x20x30) to access benchmarking data and best-practice sharing

FAQ

Q: What are the most reliable metrics for measuring food waste reduction progress? A: Practitioners consistently recommend tracking waste as a percentage of throughput rather than absolute volumes, as this normalizes for business growth or contraction. The FLW Standard recommends measuring waste weight at specific inventory stages (receiving, storage, preparation, service, post-consumer) to enable root-cause analysis. Leading organizations also track financial metrics including waste-related purchasing costs, disposal expenses, and revenue recovered through markdown and redistribution channels. Third-party verification using established protocols (FLW Standard, CDP questionnaires) provides credibility for external reporting.

Q: How do companies balance food safety requirements with waste reduction goals? A: This tension is frequently cited but often overstated. Practitioners emphasize that food safety and waste reduction are generally complementary—better inventory management, improved cold chain performance, and accurate demand forecasting enhance both outcomes. The key is implementing date label reform (distinguishing between safety-based "use by" dates and quality-based "best before" dates), training staff on safe surplus handling, and establishing clear protocols for redistribution channels. Organizations that view safety and sustainability as competing priorities typically have siloed organizational structures that prevent integrated decision-making.

Q: What investment levels are required to achieve meaningful food waste reduction? A: Investment requirements vary significantly by sector and baseline maturity. Quick-service restaurants typically see payback periods of 6-12 months on waste tracking technology investments, given high waste rates and immediate opportunities for portion adjustment. Grocery retailers face longer payback periods (18-36 months) but larger absolute savings potential. Practitioners recommend starting with low-capital interventions (measurement, process redesign, behavioral programs) before committing to major technology investments. The key insight is that measurement and accountability often drive 20-30% reductions before any technology deployment.

Q: How should organizations approach food waste reduction across global operations with varying infrastructure? A: Leading multinationals report that "global framework, local execution" approaches work best. This involves establishing consistent measurement methodologies, target-setting processes, and reporting frameworks while allowing regional flexibility in implementation. Infrastructure constraints in emerging markets—unreliable cold chains, limited redistribution networks—require different intervention strategies than developed market contexts. Companies including Sodexo and Carrefour have found that empowering regional teams to develop locally appropriate solutions within global accountability frameworks produces better results than imposing standardized playbooks.

Q: What role does packaging innovation play in food waste reduction? A: Packaging represents a significant but often overlooked lever for waste reduction. Modified atmosphere packaging, active packaging technologies, and portion-controlled formats can extend shelf life and reduce household waste. However, practitioners caution against creating sustainability trade-offs—reducing food waste through increased packaging material use requires careful life-cycle analysis. The emerging digital product passport frameworks will enable more sophisticated optimization of the food waste-packaging waste balance by providing visibility into actual product fate and spoilage patterns.

Sources

• United Nations Environment Programme (2024). Food Waste Index Report 2024. UNEP, Nairobi.
• Food and Agriculture Organization (2024). The State of Food and Agriculture: Reducing Food Loss and Waste. FAO, Rome.
• European Commission (2024). Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive Implementation Guidance. Official Journal of the European Union.
• WRAP (2024). Food Surplus and Waste in the UK: Key Facts Update 2024. Waste and Resources Action Programme, London.
• Champions 12.3 (2024). SDG Target 12.3 Progress Report: Annual Assessment of Corporate and Government Action. World Resources Institute, Washington DC.
• MSCI ESG Research (2024). Food Waste as a Material Factor: Correlations with Financial Performance in Consumer Staples. MSCI Inc., New York.
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2024). Special Report on Food Systems and Climate Change: Supplementary Update. IPCC, Geneva.