Global Consumer Goods Companies Release First Collective Baseline Study, Putting Increased Transparency at the Forefront of Action to Reduce Food Waste and Loss

Marking a clear starting point for reporting progress in coming years, the baseline is part of the Coalition’s ambition to halve food waste in their business by 2030, in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 seeking to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, by halving per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains. At the launch of the Coalition in 2020, members chose to focus on publicly reporting food waste and loss, aligned with guidance from Champions 12.3. Public reporting increases transparency and accountability, builds consumer trust and sets an example for the wider industry. 

The report gathers quantitative data, including the total tonnes of food waste arising in both retailer and manufacturer cohorts, treatment and disposal routes for food waste, and the amount of food redistributed to people or animal feed. Total food waste across the cohort was 2.12 million tonnes, which was made up of nearly 929,000 tonnes of retailer food waste and 1.19 million tonnes coming from the manufacturer side. This data forms the baseline from which to track progress in future years.

Currently, around one-third of all the food produced globally doesn’t get eaten each year – equating to 1.3 billion tonnes. Members of the CGF’s Food Waste Coalition are accelerating efforts to tackle this enormous environmental and social problem – but know that more is needed at every level.

Understanding progress and being transparent is a critical way to reduce food loss and waste. The Food Waste Coalition, led by 21 of the world’s major food companies, is already working to reduce waste by focusing on three priority actions, including measurement and public reporting of food loss data, and collaboration with key stakeholders. Key projects include:

• The 10x20x30 Initiative – which targets at least 10 of the world’s largest food retailers and providers to follow the “Target-Measure-Act” approach and engage 20 of their priority suppliers to do the same, thereby halving their food loss and waste by 2030.
• Engagement on upstream losses – to address food loss at the post-harvest level, by engaging with their suppliers on collaborative, innovative and effective food loss prevention strategies.
• #TooGoodToWaste consumer engagement campaign – launched in September 2023, it is supporting food industry members to raise awareness, inform and educate, and help consumers reduce household food waste.

The report also looks at qualitative data, presenting a summary of the action that businesses are taking to set a food waste reduction target, work with their suppliers, and support their customers to reduce food waste. All data has been collected via the Global Food Loss and Waste Data Capture Sheet, built by WRAP UK and the World Resources Institute (WRI) and in support of the Food Loss and Waste Standard.

“The scale of the problem of food loss and waste to our society, economy and planet can be difficult to comprehend. Having this new Coalition baseline by which to measure our progress on food loss and waste each year will not only help us understand just how much work remains to be done, but will help set a clear pathway forwards for action. Since the creation of our Coalition in 2020, we have learned how to target, measure, and act, and we now feel able to help other manufacturers and retailers across the industry do the same.” said Max Koeune, President and CEO, McCain Foods

“Our Coalition is working hard to create solutions to the food waste and loss challenges in our own operations, and our supply chains both upstream and downstream. We welcome the findings of this report, as it represents our commitment to transparency going forwards. We now want to see solid progression along our pathway towards halving food waste, and with a baseline we can now track our collective achievements. We encourage other companies to lean into the challenges, and join us on our journey.” said Ken Murphy, Group Chief Executive, Tesco

“It is now well known that addressing food loss and waste can have a huge impact, not just in reducing hunger but also in mitigating the effects of climate change.” said Sharon Bligh, Director of Health and Sustainability. “Public reporting on food loss and waste is widely recognised as a trigger for rapid and effective action. This baseline report represents a line in the sand for our Coalition, and we are confident that it will help guide our 2030 roadmap to ensure we fully understand the challenges and opportunities to end food waste.”

“We will not tackle climate change if we don’t fix our broken food system, and not least food waste. Were it a country, food waste would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the USA. So it’s incredibly important that the Food Waste Coalition of Action has set a baseline for the businesses involved, and critical that these major food companies work collaboratively towards its goals. Together we can halve the amount that goes to waste each year and make our food systems a more equitable model that feeds people, not bins.” said Harriet Lamb, CEO WRAP

The full publication is available to view here. For more information, visit www.tcgffoodwaste.com.

– ENDS –

About the Food Waste Coalition of Action

The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF)’s CEO-led Coalition of Action on Food Waste brings together 21 of the world’s largest consumer goods retailers and manufacturers with the goal of halving per capita global food loss at the retailer and consumer levels. With its explicit CEO engagement, action-oriented commitments and passion for accelerating sustainable change on a global level, the Coalition is a leader in the effort to reduce food loss in supply chains worldwide by driving action on key issues such as public reporting, full supply chain engagement, post-harvest losses and regional challenges. Together, the Coalition and its members play a powerful role in the effort to reduce waste, reducing stress on the environment, benefitting the global economy and ensuring more food makes it to stores and onto consumers’ tables in the process. For more information about the Coalition, visit www.tcgffoodwaste.com.

About The Consumer Goods Forum

The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is the only CEO-led organisation that represents both manufacturers and retailers globally. It brings together senior leaders from more than 400 retailers, manufacturers and other stakeholders across 70 countries. The CGF accelerates change through eight Coalitions of Action: forests, human rights, plastics, healthier lives, food waste, food safety, supply chains and product data. Its member companies have combined sales of EUR 4.6 trillion and directly employ nearly 10 million people, with a further 90 million related jobs estimated along the value chain. It is governed by its Board of Directors, which comprises more than 55 manufacturer and retailer CEOs. For more information, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.

For more information, please contact: