Seventy-two billion pounds of food end up in landfills and incinerators each year, and more food sellers are trying to find ways to stop it. It’s a matter of good business as much as good citizenry: nearly 40% of the food wasted in the U.S. is thrown out by consumers, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, and when it goes to waste so does the water, soil and fertilizer — not to speak of labor — that went into producing it.
There’s a legitimate profit potential for reducing food waste. ReFED, a collaboration of 50 retailers, government leaders and organizations, estimates the cost of food waste is more than double its original profit potential, calculating it as an $18.2 billion opportunity for grocers. Further, 92% of surveyed shoppers feel supermarkets could do more to eliminate waste.
So more supermarkets are doing that — seeking ways to reduce food loss resulting from expiration date confusion, overbuying and “ugly” produce that never makes it to the store. For some, doing so presents an opportunity to address the crisis of poverty-related hunger. Some are focused on reducing the costs and pollution resulting from food disposal, as well as unnecessary production.
For all, it’s an effort to get closer to shoppers by sharing facts about a critical issue and inviting them to become important contributors to positive change. Using simple approaches, major food retailers are pointing out the relevance of food waste at local levels, in terms of cost and sustainability, and turning shoppers’ concerns over food expiration into hope for a more sustainable future. Basically, food sellers are introducing responsibility as an element of the customer experience — and boosting their brand images as well.
If the amount of unnecessarily disposed food adds up to six great pyramids, you can say individual supermarkets each represent one block in that range of waste. As each store addresses food excess and loss, those pyramids shrink. Shoppers can contribute by seeking out merchants actively working to reduce their own lost-food footprint. Here are four examples.
Move the food around. A lot of food waste occurs, frustratingly, far from areas where people are hungry. So Kroger Co. is using its size, influence and distribution might to divert otherwise wasted food to communities in need. Its Zero Hunger, Zero Waste initiative, launched in September 2018, aims to eliminate food waste by 2025 while also reducing hunger. The 2,800-store chain established a $10 million innovation fund to assist in part by accelerating food donations and advocating for public policy solutions. Kroger is partnering with the food bank network Feeding America and the World Wildlife Fund, among other groups, to identify opportunities. The move follows Kroger’s commitment, in 2016, to meet or beat the EPA’s “zero waste” threshold of 90% diversion from landfills by 2020.