Metro AG and more than 30 of its major suppliers have completed or have committed to baseline measurements of their operations' food loss and waste as part of phase 1 in the 10x20x30 initiative to prevent food waste in business value chains, the company has announced.
The 10x20x30 initiative involves the wholesaler and 11 food retailers and providers, and each engaging with at least 20 suppliers in a 'whole supply chain' approach to cut food waste by half by 2030.
Fighting Food Waste
Metro's participating suppliers include, among others, Unilever, FarmFrites, Kellogg, Kluth, Mars, Mondelēz, Nestlé, Reis, and Barilla Gida.
Each supplier METRO is collaborating with has committed to reduce food waste in their own operations by 50% by 2030; measure and publish their food waste inventories; and create actionable food waste reduction strategies.
Veronika Pountcheva, global director of corporate responsibility at Metro AG, said, "Food waste reduction is one of the main sustainability focus areas at Metro. Alongside our ambitious target of halving food waste in own operations by 2025, we are committed to working with our value chain partners to share our ambition and support their efforts of achieving their food waste reduction objectives through the 10x20x30 Initiative.
"To see our suppliers joining forces with us and witnessing the progress we jointly make motivates us even more to strengthen our efforts and contributions towards achieving SDG 12.3 in our business and the wider industry."
In phase 2, Metro and its participating suppliers will implement proactive steps to reduce their respective food waste hotspots.
Actions will include improved operational efficiencies, surplus food donations, and the use of cutting-edge technology solutions.
Metro already implements several measures to reduces food loss and waste in its operations.
These include, among others, reselling food close to the best-before date via innovative solution partners like Too Good To Go and marketplaces like Sir Plus or Motatos.
The 10x20x30 Initiative
The food retailers and providers involved in the 10x20x30 Initiative include AEON, Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, IKEA Food, Kroger, METRO AG, Migros (Turkey), Pick n Pay, The Savola Group, Sodexo, Tesco, and Walmart.
The participants in the initiative operate in more than 80 countries across the world.
The initiative was publicly launched at the 2019 Annual Food Loss and Waste Summit hosted by Champions 12.3, a voluntary coalition of executives from business, government, and civil society committed to raising ambition and motivating action to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 12.3.
The coalition inspired and helped develop 10x20x30, with the World Resources Institute (WRI) as co-secretariat and lead provider of technical assistance to retailers and suppliers.
A Walmart Foundation grant to WRI supports training and technical assistance for food suppliers to reduce food loss and waste.
Craig Hanson, a vice president at World Resources Institute, said, "Reducing food loss and waste offers a triple win in terms of food security, economic savings and environmental protection.
"Since so much of the world's food goes through business value chains, the collaborative actions of these companies are vital to halving the planet's food waste."
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
