The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) has launched the Coalition of Action on Food Waste, which aims to reduce the per capita global food loss to half at retailer and consumer level.
The CEO-led initiative comprises 14 members, representing the world’s largest retailers and manufacturers.
Members include Ahold Delhaize, Barilla, Bel Group, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Majid Al Futtaim, McCain Foods, Merck Animal Health, Metro AG, Migros Ticaret, Nestlé, Sainsbury, Tesco, and Walmart.
The initiative is sponsored at the CGF Board level by Dave Lewis, group chief executive of Tesco, and Max Koeune, the president and CEO of McCain Foods, the CGF added.
The steering committee of the Coalition is co-chaired by Francisco Cordero of Kellogg Company and Brittni Furrow of Ahold Delhaize USA.
'A Serious Global Problem'
Director of environmental sustainability at the CGF, Ignacio Gavilan, said, “Food loss is a serious global problem and it can only be effectively addressed through committed collective action.
“The launch of the Coalition of Action on Food Waste is a positive and important step to creating sustainable food strategies and preventing loss, and we look forward to seeing the impact the Coalition will have on the issue.”
Coalition Commitments
The Coalition will be guided by three commitments to implement measures aimed at reducing food waste.
The first commitment is to recognise the importance of measuring and reporting food loss and publish the data by 2021.
Secondly, members have pledged to extend collaboration beyond the Coalition to engage their suppliers and other stakeholders.
The third commitment is to address food loss at the post-harvest level, which contributes to 30% of food waste.
The members will achieve this goal by engaging with stakeholders to develop innovative and effective food loss prevention strategies, the CGF added.
Food Waste
Food waste is an enormous environmental, social and economic problem, as a third of the food produced each year is wasted globally.
This is equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes of food, and is valued at $940 billion.
Food waste is also responsible for adding 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the planet’s atmosphere annually.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
