UK food companies including Tesco, Nestle, Unilever and Coca-Cola plan to halve food waste by 2030

Major supermarkets, food manufacturers and restaurants have signed a “landmark” food waste initiative to halve Britain's food waste by 2030 and save the nation at least £10bn (US$13.15bn) a year.

Over 70 companies signed up for the new Food Waste Reduction Roadmap including Tesco, Nestle, Unilever, General Mills, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola.

Co-developed by charities WRAP and IGD, the government-backed scheme plans to tackle waste from “farm to fork.”

The voluntary monitoring plan will ask signatories to outline their plans to reduce food loss. Those food companies involved will also publish details of their of their waste to show their improvement.

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According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Association, one-third of all food produced globally — worth a value of around $1trn — is binned every year.

The roadmap aims to have 50% of the UK’s largest 250 food business, measuring, reporting and acting on food waste by September 2019.

“The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap presents a huge opportunity for every business within the UK food and grocery industry to provide reassurance for shoppers,” said Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive of IGD. 

“UK shoppers see industry food waste at the top of their priorities and by working together with the total food chain, we’re delighted to have secured a world first, with the UK leading the way in this important area.

“As a result, I’m confident we will see continued momentum on this high profile initiative.”