On October 29th, The Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Food Waste Coalition of Action hosted a virtual workshop on upstream food losses in animal protein. The workshop was the third in a series of virtual events held by the Coalition on the topic, with earlier workshops focusing on fresh produce and non-perishable agricultural commodities. Engagement on the issue of post-harvest losses, which includes food loss that occurs at the farm level immediately after production, is one of the Coalition’s key workstreams, given it is the source of 30 percent of all food losses.
The workshop provided the opportunity for attendees to hear from an expert group of speakers on how companies are leading to address this global challenge throughout the supply chain and why it is even relevant to businesses that do not include animal products.
During the workshop, three main speakers shared their insights to kick off the group discussion. Bruce Taylor from Enviro-Stewards Inc. started by presenting the compelling economic and environmental case for food and beverage conservation and the process for identifying opportunities to do so. He then shared several company case studies illustrating the ‘why’ and ‘how’ companies can reduce food loss and waste and save money. Ruud Zanders from the revolutionary Kipster Farm in the Netherlands then presented their innovative approaches to closed-loop chicken farming using circular feed diverted from food waste in human consumption. The final speaker, Fred Beekmans from Darling Ingredients, then spoke on the role that rendering plays in the puzzle of reducing and preventing food loss and waste. The workshop ended with a group discussed facilitated by Coalition member Jessica Meisinger from Merck Animal Health.
If you missed the workshop, you can access the recording via this link.
The Food Waste Coalition of Action is committed to driving action on the issue of food loss and waste, both within members’ own operations and beyond in the wider supply chain. This Coalition brings together 24 leading consumer goods retailers and manufacturers with the broader goal of halving food loss per capita through a collaborative and pre-competitive approach. One of the Coalition’s objectives focuses on reducing food loss and waste during the upstream stages, both at- and post-harvest.
For more details on the CGF’s work to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 and halve food loss per capita worldwide, visit www.tcgffoodwaste.com.