Food waste around the world
On March 27, 2024, the United Nations Development Program highlights an alarming reality: “Households on all continents wasted more than a billion meals per day in 2022” . A very worrying reality when we know that globally, 783 million people suffer from malnutrition.
Food waste represents approximately 20% of the food available worldwide . Food losses occur throughout the supply chain, from agricultural harvest to transportation and processing. According to the FAO , around a third of all food produced is wasted, which includes 45% of fruits and vegetables produced as well as 20% of meat and poultry.
And the impacts of this waste go far beyond the simple loss of food. Economically, it costs states nearly $1 billion each year, a figure that could be better used to fight hunger and improve food infrastructure. Additionally, food waste contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for between 8 and 10% of the global total.
Who is responsible for food waste?
Are consumers the only ones responsible?
In developed countries, 40% of food wasted is lost during distribution or consumption, and 32% is lost during agricultural production. In France, 32% of food waste occurs during production and 33% at the consumption level (restaurants and homes).
Large distribution
Large retailers occupy a key position in the food supply chain, they are also responsible for significant waste, with an average of 20 kilos of food thrown away per supermarket every day. This waste results from various factors:
1. The strict aesthetic standards imposed, for example, on fruits and vegetables to meet the standards of supermarkets, as well as the lifespan requirements of the products.
2. The need to respect the seasonality of products, which leads to unsold surpluses after specific periods such as the end-of-year holidays.
3. The desire to maintain a large stock to avoid stock shortages and satisfy all types of consumers.ices
4. Consumer habits also influence food waste.
Collective catering
Collective catering plays a crucial role in the fight against food waste. In France, this sector generates around 540,000 tonnes of food waste each year. Present in various environments such as university restaurants (Crous), businesses, hospitals, school canteens, as well as in prisons, collective catering is omnipresent in our daily lives. This extensive presence gives it an important responsibility in raising awareness and educating our fellow citizens on the issues of food waste.
By changing behavior and promoting better practices, collective catering can significantly contribute to reducing food waste. For more details on this subject, we invite you to consult our article: “Why is food waste the major issue in collective catering?” .
Agricultural production
Waste in agricultural production is the first in the food chain. There are 13.8% of global agricultural production thrown away before even being consumed, which represents 400 billion dollars of agricultural products . These losses can result from various causes such as overproduction linked to market and demand fluctuations, downgraded products due to strict aesthetic standards, as well as external factors like weather conditions or epidemics. Additionally, preservation and storage issues also contribute to food waste at this stage of the food chain.
Businesses
Businesses also contribute to food waste, mainly because it is often cheaper for them to throw away excess than to seek sustainable alternatives. Waste taxes are generally low, and it is also possible to export waste abroad to reduce costs. This situation creates an economic incentive that favors waste rather than responsible management of surplus food.
Consumers turn out to be the worst performers, wasting around 74 kilos of food each . In developed countries, we tend to be in a model of overconsumption where portions are poorly calibrated and we consume too much compared to our needs. In developing countries, waste can, for example, come from problems with food preservation.
If in 2021, Saudi Arabia stands out as the biggest waster (with 110 kg per person), there are however positive examples, such as:
- South Korea: the city of Seoul decided in 2016 to introduce a regulation requiring fellow citizens to pay recycling fees for their food waste. These measures made it possible to reduce food waste by 10%.
- Denmark: which reduced its volume of food waste by a quarter. These impressive results come in particular from citizen measures such as the Stop Spild af Mad led by activist Sélina Juul. But also private initiatives, such as the Rema distribution brand which has decided to eliminate certain reductions to avoid overconsumption.
What measures have been put in place by governments/institutions?
Aware of the impact of this food waste on our societies, different bodies have been set up:
- UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) is an organization dependent on the UN created in 1972. Its aim is to link different activities in the field of the environment.
- FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its objective is to fight against poverty and hunger in the world by focusing in particular on agricultural development. FAO has joined forces with UNEP to provide more precise estimates of food waste by distinguishing between “food losses” and “food waste”. By creating an index for each of them in 2011:
- Food loss index: represents losses from production to distribution.
- Food waste: represents losses from distribution to consumers.
- Fusions is an initiative financially supported by the European Union with the aim of encouraging Member States to reduce food waste at all stages of the supply chain. The long-term goal is to halve food waste by 2030. On average, each EU resident wasted 131 kg of food waste, resulting in a financial loss of around €132 billion in 2020 .
In France, laws aimed at reducing waste have also been introduced over the last twenty years:
- 2013: The national pact
- 2016: Garrot Law
- 2018: Egalim Law
- 2020: Agec law
Discover our article: “Collective catering and food waste: guide to the laws”.
On a more commemorative aspect, the United Nations also established World Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day in 2020.
Consumers still remain the most wasteful, all over the world, but for various reasons. In developed countries, we tend to be in a model of overconsumption where portions are poorly calibrated and we consume too much compared to our needs. In developing countries, waste can, for example, come from problems with food preservation.
Civil society against food waste
Institutions are not the only ones fighting against food waste, companies and associations are also participating in this battle.
In France, we find in particular Too good to go , Phénix or Zéro Gâchis which offer baskets of unsold items at low prices to avoid waste.
There are also associations such as Tinki Kmou , created in Nantes. This structure fights against waste, whether food or clothing, by organizing food distributions with unsold items. These unsold items are generally either supplied by stores directly, but can also come from food banks.
At Kikleo, we have chosen to act at the catering level. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we help restaurants reduce their food waste while improving customer satisfaction and complying with the laws mentioned above.
FOR A BETTER FUTURE
You would like to take action against food waste
Kikleo helps you reduce food waste and increase the performance of your restaurant by offering you a analysis of your losses using innovative technological tools.
