Manufacturers must work harder to reduce food wastage

By Donovan Herbster
A global coalition dedicated to dramatically reducing worldwide food waste by 2030,Champions 12.3, has released research demonstrating how organisatio...

 

A global coalition dedicated to dramatically reducing worldwide food waste by 2030, Champions 12.3, has released research demonstrating how organisations can save $14 for every $1 invested in reducing food waste.

Having analysed data from 1,200 business sites owned by 700 organisations across the food supply chain, Champions 12.3 found that half of the business involved achieved at least a 14:1 return of investment from food waste reduction measures. Almost every one of the companies assessed achieved a positive ROI.

The manufacturing sector is accountable for much of the easily preventable food waste in the British food supply chain, according to WRAP; 0.9 million tons of food are wasted annually in the UK, worth £1.2 billion, which is more than double what retail wastes. While some organisations claim this is inevitable, WRAP insists that it is all avoidable.

InfinityQS, the quality management software firm, stated that this makes manufacturing a good starting point for businesses looking to save money and reduce hard to the environment. David Gurr, Account Manager at the company, commented on the research and its implications:

David Gurr, Account Manager at InfinityQS, commented on the research and its implications: “The moral imperative for reducing food waste is clear: a billion people go to bed hungry every night whilst a third of the food produced globally is wasted. However, there has never been such a transparent demonstration of how this issue belongs on the CFO’s, and indeed the CEO’s, agenda – there are serious savings to be made here, and WRAP have identified manufacturing process as a smart place to start making a high impact.

“During the manufacturing process, food waste often occurs due to errors which result in food products not meeting the required specifications, and therefore being rendered unfit for purpose. Contamination can also taint food product, making it unusable. Between these and other manufacturing errors, the manufacturing process creates 0.9 million tonnes of unnecessary food waste every year.

“Manufacturers can prevent this expensive and damaging waste of food resources by ensuring they have the right measures in place to guarantee the quality of their product at each stage of the production process. It is also key to be able to identify and isolate incidences of error when they do occur – for example, if a manufacturer can identify which specific batch of food was contaminated by an error, it doesn’t need to recall a whole product line.

“As organisations come under more scrutiny for their sustainability credentials, it pays both financially and ethically to work out ways to reduce food waste. Reducing waste in manufacturing by implementing sophisticated quality management processes is an impactful place to start.”

 

By Nell Walker

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