Major food companies make progress in cutting food loss, waste

At the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, countries committed to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 12.3, calling for the world to cut food loss and waste in half by 2030. Now three years later, a group of sustainable food champions from around the world are tracking progress toward this fast-approaching target—and finding that the private sector has seized the opportunity to tackle food loss and waste.

The new Champions 12.3 Progress Report shows that companies are embracing food loss and waste reductions consistent with SDG Target 12.3, with nearly two-thirds of the world’s 50 largest food companies now participating in programs with a food loss and waste reduction target. The report also finds increasing evidence that companies and countries are measuring their loss and waste, publishing their results, and acting to put new policies and programs in place.

SDG Target 12.3 on Food Loss and Waste: 2018 Progress Report was launched alongside three major announcements from governments and businesses pioneering new efforts to target, measure, and act. The series of announcements were made at the start of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, and include:

• Target: Leading food brands embrace targets and transparency to reduce food waste—Ten of the world’s largest food brands—including Mars, Unilever, and General Mills—have not only set targets to halve their food waste by 2030, but also committed to publish the food waste data for their operations within the next 12 months, and take concrete steps to reduce food waste in the supply chain and in customers’ homes.
• Measure: New online site brings global food loss and waste data to fingertips—Marcus Gover, chief executive of WRAP, announced the Food Waste Atlas, which simplifies finding quantified data that companies and governments can use when measuring their food loss and waste. Food loss and waste data by food type, geography, or stage in the supply chain can now be found in one place.
• Act: Africa launches first strategy to halve post-harvest losses—Ambassador Josefa Sacko, the African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, announced the Continental Post Harvest Loss Management Strategy. The strategy details a suite of innovations in policies, technology, market infrastructure, capacity building, and investment needed to achieve a target for halving post-harvest losses in Africa by 2025.

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