Few companies take a structured approach to food waste reduction

(Høvik, Norway, May 6) A new global survey from DNV reveals that although six out of ten food and beverage companies recognize food loss and waste as a significant issue, less than a quarter have placed it high on their strategic agenda – highlighting a major gap between awareness and action.

The ViewPoint survey, conducted across 375 companies spanning Europe, Americas and Asia, shows that while 85% report taking some form of action to reduce food loss and waste, only 44% have formalized systems in place to manage it. Moreover, fewer than one in three companies are aware of the upcoming ISO 20001 management system standard – designed to guide organizations in minimizing food loss and waste across the supply chain.

“Food loss and waste represent both a sustainability challenge and a missed business opportunity. Our findings suggest that although companies acknowledge the scale of the issue, but many are still at the beginning of their journey towards more effective, system-wide structured solutions,” says Barbara Frencia, CEO for Business Assurance in DNV.

The report highlights the complexity and magnitude of the problem. Companies cite multiple and diverse causes, from process inefficiencies and human error to shelf-life limitations and overproduction. Despite this, 43% believe that more than 10% of unavoidable food loss and waste could be redirected for other uses – yet only 19% are currently doing so.

Food loss and waste are increasingly becoming both a sustainability issue and financial concern for the global food and beverage industry. According to the UN Environment Programme, over 1 billion tonnes of food were wasted globally in 2022, and the survey underlines the sector’s collective opportunity – and responsibility – to drive meaningful change.

“There is a clear business case for taking decisive action on food loss and waste in order to reduce cost and contribute to feed the planet at the same time. A structured approach, reliable data and best-practice standards is key for companies to turn their intentions into measurable impact,” concludes Frencia.

Other key findings include:

• Only 24% of companies list food loss and waste as a high priority on their agenda;
• 30% believe only a small share of their food waste is avoidable, while another 28% believe the majority could be prevented;
• 75% have integrated food loss and waste into their sustainability strategies, but only 40% report on it publicly:
• Reporting is still mostly manual, with over half of companies relying on spreadsheets.