The mounting problem of food waste has become a conundrum for the fresh produce industry and every year, staggering volumes of fruit and vegetables are thrown out alongside all kinds of food and drink that are still perfectly edible.
Research from WRAP shows that UK households throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food every year - a third of the total bought by UK consumers and at the expense of £680 a year for families with children - but in a sign that there is huge potential to turn this around, up to 70 per cent could have been eaten.
A significant proportion of the waste is made up of fruit and vegetables, with 860,000t of salad and vegetables and 500,000t of fruit being thrown out every year.
WRAP introduced the Love Food Hate Waste campaign in response to these worrying figures. The project is a cross-industry initiative and the range of partners includes Mack Multiples and Sainsbury’s, which were able to deliver a commercial, practical edge to academic and scientific research, as well as WRAP, East Malling Research, RSSL and the Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre (FRPERC) at the University of Bristol.
An initial survey of 297 homes illustrated the lack of understanding among consumers about how fresh produce should be stored and prepared to get the best out of the product. The findings showed, for example, that some 56 per cent of all fruit purchased was not kept in the fridge and this rose to 80 per cent for citrus, when researchers found that storage in the fridge would significantly increase product life. Conversely, 41 per cent of onions and 21 per cent of potatoes were stored in the fridge when recommendations say otherwise.
The main reasons for throwing away food are cooking or preparing too much or not using food in time - for example, having to throw out fruit and vegetables because they have gone off in the fruit bowl or in the fridge.
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce the amount of food thrown away and how this will benefit both consumersand the environment.
According to the project, if the UK could stop wasting food that could have been consumed, it would be the environmental equivalent of taking one in four cars off the road.
Andrew Parry, WRAP’s household food waste prevention programme manager, said at the time of the Re:fresh win: “It was an honour to receive such a prestigious award on behalf of a fantastic project team - funded by WRAP, managed by East Malling Research and involving Sainsbury’s, Mack Multiples, RSSL and the FRPERC.
“The output from this project - recommendations for effective storage advice for fresh produce - has been taken up by several major retailers, has formed the basis of a successful campaign by Love Food Hate Waste and is helping consumers to use more of the fresh produce they buy, and save money by throwing away less.”
The majority of the major supermarket retailers in the UK have welcomed the Love Food Hate Waste campaign and have committed to work with WRAP to identify ways they can help their customers to reduce the amount of food they throw away. This might be through providing more information such as recipes or how to store food better, improving the types of products sold, such as the range of portion sizes or the use of resealable packaging, and changing the way food is sold, by introducing half-price offers rather than two-for-one deals on food that goes off quickly.
Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium, maintains that the Love Food Hate Waste campaign stood out as a pioneering project when it picked up the Stubbins Innovation of the Year award in May last year.
“The Love Food Hate Waste initiative was recognised by Re:fresh as a winning example of a successful combination of practical, commercial experience with robust scientific research,” he says. “By working with the strengths of its individual partners, the project was able to take the key findings of the research and distil them into punchy messages for consumers. These messages were carried by several major retailers in store and backed by sensible advice on how to store fresh produce to minimise waste.”
But how is the industry as a whole taking on the problem of food waste? “The fresh produce industry has been participating in a major project managed by WRAP with Cranfield University and IGD to develop detailed resource maps, quantifying food waste and packaging waste through the fresh produce retail and wholesale supply chain,” says Jenney. “The results of this project will be published this summer.
“The industry’s own Eat in Colour (EiC) campaign gives easy-to-follow, practical advice on its website - www.eatincolour.com - to help consumers make the most of their fresh produce with tasty recipes, including soups and smoothies.
“There are lots of examples of best practice across the fresh produce industry in terms of tackling waste in the supply chain, with energy recovery such as anaerobic digesters, innovative packaging and on-site recycling facilities.
“The first challenge is to have a common understanding of what is perceived to be waste in the food supply chain and to know where it occurs. As an industry, we are adept at finding alternative markets or secondary uses for fresh produce that does not meet its original specification. And most wasteoccurs in the field or in the home. There are, however, always areas for improvement and the industry is not complacent in the need to scrutinise its processes.”
Cutting waste throughout the supply chain is key to resolving part of the problem, but what can companies do to reduce waste through the supply chain?
“A thorough knowledge of all the processes and the impact of any variations in weather are vital, as well as keeping up to speed with the latest advances and innovations in packaging and distribution,” says Jenney. “The adoption of lean manufacturing techniques is an essential tool for managing waste through the supply chain.
“It’s vital that consumers continue to enjoy eating fresh produce as part of a healthy diet and are given the right advice about the correct storage of fresh produce in the home to avoid unnecessary waste,” he continues. “We would like to see stronger links with well-established industry initiatives such as EiC, so that consumers can continue to enjoy eating fresh produce and a guilt-free healthy diet.
“We will be sharing the findings of the WRAP project on mapping waste in the supply chain when the report is published, as well as promoting best practice for reducing product damage and fresh produce waste.”
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