Connecting champions to halve food waste per capita

In Berlin’s innovative and sustainable event space, Umweltforum, there was a great meeting of minds when the REFRESH Food Waste 2017 conference brought together champions of food waste reduction and valorization under one roof to share research and progress earlier this month. This was followed by a one day event hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture: a Dragons’ Den style workshop involving food waste entrepreneurs and industry experts. Two of Anthesis’ own food waste specialists took part – Resource Policy Advisor and Practice Leader Julian Parfitt and Senior Sustainability Consultant Jennifer Wilson – with the event summarized below.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 is all about halving food waste per capita at the retail and consumer level, and reducing food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses. REFRESH, an EU research project, is aiming to contribute towards this goal and it was fantastic to join the annual meeting in Germany. The conference was jam-packed with presentations, panel discussions, interactive sessions and debate across issues of consumer, food chain, and production concern and was attended by REFRESH project partners, policy makers, retailers, academics and activists.

REFRESH Conference – present, debate and Disco Chop…

The conference saw both of us presenting as part of REFRESH working groups in our specialisms of communications and policy. Jenni, who manages the Tesco Supplier Network at Anthesis, ran an interactive demonstration launching the new ‘Community of Experts’ digital platform which will enable idea exchange across businesses, governments and academia. It was announced at the event that this platform will be adopted by the European Commission’s Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste to share ideas and best practice in pursuit of SDG 12.3. Julian’s focus was on discussing the policy working group’s detailed analysis of the underlying causes of food waste within food businesses. For 10 food products (including potatoes, tomatoes, bread, dairy, ready meals and meat) ‘system maps’ were developed which attendees used to explore current policy gaps and opportunities to reduce food waste and valorize anything that remains.

REFRESH then turned the spotlight to the use of former food products as input to animal feed. The cost of feed is the largest expense in rearing livestock and the import of Brazilian soymeal for use in the European feed sector has far-reaching environmental consequences. Diverting food surplus away from anaerobic digestion for use as livestock feed has clear environmental and economic advantages, particularly for food that cannot be redistributed to humans. However, it is a contentious issue across Europe with the legacy of food crises and animal diseases linked to a poorly regulated feed sector in the recent past. Currently there are severe restrictions on the types of animal by-products contained in foods that can be used in feed production. A key part of the afternoon was a debate on the pros and cons of reforming the current restrictions from the perspective of different stakeholders. Julian sat on the panel along with Karen Luyckx from Feedback – The Pig Idea (advocates working within the REFRESH project to encourage reform of current practice in relation to the use of food waste in pig feed), and Kees van Gorp from the European Former Foodstuff Processors Association (representing food processers who produce feed for farm animals). While undoubtedly an important issue and one which is being discussed across industry, the reform of the current animal-byproducts regime is not widely supported by industry, the European Commission and farmers, even though technical solutions have been developed in Japan. As part of The Pig Idea campaign, conference delegates were invited to feed legally sourced fruit and vegetables to the eager pigs stationed in a pen outside the venue.

And what better way to wrap up day one than with improvisational theater, art installation (to bring to home the 9.5kg of bread per person thrown away in Germany each year), and communal preparation of food that would otherwise have been wasted (known as the ‘Disco Chop’!)?

The following day was the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s Food Waste Innovation Incubator Day. It was held as part of the Ministry’s ‘Too good for the bin!’ campaign, and involved small businesses and entrepreneurs with a business model centered on finding value from food waste. The day aimed to bring together these players to communicate their challenges, both logistically and politically, with many struggling to scale up their businesses, despite the extent of food waste in their regions of operation. It was inspiring to hear about the extent of efforts happening across Europe and be able to participate in discussions of best practice, such as supplier collaboration, food redistribution and using innovation and technology to address the challenges.

What next?

As we had hoped, REFRESH got everyone talking and sharing – and that can only be a good thing. And we’d love to further the conversation beyond the largely governmental, consultant and NGO attendee base this event focused on, extending the conversation to the food suppliers and manufacturers who are ultimately the players who will make or break the achievement of SDG 12.3. And we’d also love to continue the discussion by putting food waste into the wider world picture – how food waste will be affected by Brexit, labor shortages, the new living wage, and the business case for automation of processes.

It became apparent to us that one of the things many organizations are missing in the fight against waste is the practical advice and step by step guidance they need to turn good intention and sound theory into impactful doing – and we’re confident that’s somewhere we can help. Our short guide to food waste provides an introduction to tackling food waste, and we’d love to hear from you if this is an issue of focus for your organization.

Anthesis have vast experience in relation to reducing food waste and improving food sustainability. We are working with leading retailers and manufacturers to help them measure, and ultimately reduce, their food waste.