One statistic that should never fail to shock is how much of our food production never makes it to feeding the global population. The figure which is still regularly quoted and is generally accepted as a truth is that ⅓ of food produced for Global consumption is lost, or wasted, globally each year.
A truly horrific number, which no matter how many times you hear or read it, should still generate anger, frustration, impatience and whatever other emotions you personally feel. Simply an unacceptable situation.
This statistic was circulated as part of a paper from the UN in 2011 focussed on Global Food Losses and Food Waste. Yet since 2011, some 13 years ago, there appears to have been little change in this number. The World Counts state “roughly a third”* of the world’s food is wasted*. TRS.com published that in 2024 “almost 40 percent of the entire US food supply is wasted”.**
What does it mean?
There are probably two likely inferences from this data. The first is that despite the efforts and resources begin thrown at the problem over the last decade, there has simply been little to no impact or reduction in the amount of food wasted. This scenario is bleak – for whatever reason efforts have been in vain and the problem is much, much more challenging than anyone envisages. The idea of just carrying on as we are, in the knowledge that there is little to no impact on solving the problem, is painful to comprehend.
The second scenario is that we are making inroads, that things are improving (no matter at what speed) but the ability to report accurately on progress is too difficult. Measuring and tracking food waste reduction at a Global level is clearly not straightforward.
Is there evidence to support the (much preferred) second scenario. What is energising and brings hope that we are actually making progress is where the data and tools are available to organisations that can then assess, track, measure and report true waste reduction, albeit at a company level. There are great examples of innovation and applications through case studies that show real progress. Guckenheiner, one of the leading food service providers in North America, has reduced their food waste by over 60% in a two year period***, using Winnow’s excellent “Vision” hardware in their kitchens. WRAP’s case study of UK operator Daniel Thwaites showed a 49% reduction in food waste through sharing best practices and having access to robust data.**** Inspirational and real progress.
So it’s probably unfair to say that no progress has been made over the last 12 years. However, we don’t possess the data to allow accurate and meaningful measurement and reporting to happen. Individual organisations are building their own micro-infrastructures to be able to report against their own ESG goals, but if the planet is to have any chance of hitting the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing global food waste by 50% by 2030, then our industry urgently needs access to the right data.
Visibility first.
Cerve’s mission is to deliver the data to every organisation within the food system to allow them to build solutions and applications that allow them to improve their business operations. We are already seeing businesses transform their supply chain efficiency, create digitally connected data exchange from suppliers to buyers, environmental impact start-ups utilise the available data to create new and exciting apps and solutions. Today, over 2,000 organisations across the UK and Europe are utilising the Cerve infrastructure including wholesalers, retailers, suppliers and manufacturers.
We firmly believe that the key to both solving food waste and improving food security lies in data. Using the data to develop new ways of working, and to be able to report progress and achievements using accurate, robust, scalable and standardised data.
So let’s suggest we are on the right path, and the last ten years have not been a lost decade. We have to feel we are in a better place than in 2011, but we have simply not made, and reported, the progress and impact of these collective efforts. With the right approach to data and insights, by 2030 we should be able to clearly see the impact we have made, and hit the 50% target with room to spare.
