With food waste at record highs , businesses are leveraging technologies like blockchain , IoT and AI to tackle the issue , from detecting food spoilage to redistribution

WRITTEN BY : KATE BIRCH

According to the United Nations Environment Food Waste Index 2021 , an estimated 17 % of total global food production is wasted ( 61 % from households , 26 % from food service and 13 % from retail ), while 14 % is lost , from farm to retail stage . Add to this the agricultural stage , taking into account food loss during farming , and as much as 40 % of all food is lost .

Not only is such waste bad for business , amounting to a loss of US $ 400bn ( roughly the GDP of Austria ), but it damages efforts to help billions of people who are hungry , and harms the environment – significantly .

Food waste and loss causes roughly 10 % of global carbon emissions . In fact , if food waste were a country , it would have the third highest emissions after only the US and China .

And with the world ’ s population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 , the problems of food security and environmental impact are only likely to increase if changes aren ’ t made , and fast .

Pandemic increased awareness and sense of urgency But things are changing , thanks in part to the pandemic , which has shone a light on the issue , as the fragility of our food chains are exposed . Nearly US $ 5bn of fresh fruit and veg was wasted in the first month of the pandemic due to the complex supply chain ’ s inability to quickly redirect shipping and distribution .

And while consumers were already demanding transparency around food waste pre-pandemic , this has accelerated exponentially since the onset of COVID-19 .

According to PwC ’ s June 2021 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey , in just a six-month period , half of all global consumers said they have become even more eco-friendly and expect companies

96 February 2022