November 12, 2021
One third of all food is lost or wasted. How can food manufacturers be a part of changing that?
“We need to look at entire food systems and work together to tackle every step of the value chain.”
Setting food loss and waste reduction targets
A good place to start is to set concrete food loss and waste reduction targets, either specific or ones that go across the full value chain. The European Union, for example, wants to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2050. At Tetra Pak, we set targets to reduce water and energy use for every solution development we undertake, and it actually helps us achieve more than we thought was possible. Our OneStep technology, for example, has helped one of China's largest milk producers cut water use by 30 to 50 percent in five years and reduce energy consumption by almost 40 percent.
Improving factories and plants
With the right food processing solution factories and plants can use the whole product when manufacturing products, and thereby upcycle production waste. For instance, when producing soy milk and tofu, a part of the puréed soybeans is usually discarded. Together with customers, we have developed a whole bean processing solution to capture this unwanted material and turn it into high-value ingredients. First, soya beans are ground to a soya base. After this, fibrous residue (okara) is separated from the soya base. This not only eliminates waste – the reuse of okara also means a creamier end product can be achieved.
“Together with customers, we have developed a whole bean processing solution to capture unwanted material and turn it into high-value ingredients.”
Improving storage and packaging
Much food is lost at farm-level when crops become infested or during transportation. Simple measures such as transporting packaged food in crates instead of bags can help reduce the amount of food that is bruised or ruined, which means it is less likely to be discarded and wasted. At the other end of the value chain, food loss and waste can be reduced by prolonging the shelf life of products with processing solutions such as pasteurisation and UHT treatment combined with innovative packaging such as aseptic packages.
Engaging consumers
“By informing and inspiring consumers about what they can do, about product quality and shelf life, more food can be saved.”
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