Food waste is one of the pressing global issues: Global food surplus is responsible for 8% of global emissions, costs 2.9 trillion pounds every year and 1/3 of all food is thrown away rather than being consumed. This not only constitutes a relevant challenge, but also a great opportunity for value creation – if system inefficiencies can be tackled. Our solution to combat food waste is twofold, tackling both the supply and demand side of food waste at the retailer-consumer linkage:
1. Improve demand forecasting of retailers by
a. Analyzing existing data from e.g. loyalty cards in order to better predict consumption patterns and thus enable retailers to plan their purchases accordingly.
b. Raising new and instant customer feedback and data on consumption preferences directly via in store-poll machines.
2. Manage food surplus proactively through a digital solution
Despite improved data availability and smarter algorithms on demand forecasting, a certain error margin, hence food surplus, will persist: Therefore, we propose the following measures:
a. Digital platform (e.g. App), connecting retailers with consumers, with the following features:
i. Customer receive notice of special discount of surplus food.
ii. Platform proposes integrated recipe matches (for surplus food) and proposes "buy this for this great meal"-packages
iii. Customers receive additional loyalty points for sustainable consumption and receive sustainability badges (gamification and community aspect, e.g. in community leagues)
b. In store, more prominent "buy surplus food" display to create awareness about food waste and discounts
c. On-site smoothie & soup bar offering, processing surplus items (e.g., vegetables, fruits).
We believe that these actions will not only bring financial benefits to the retailer and customer, but improve retailers’ reputation, increase awareness of customers and change their habits and behaviors in the long term, and therefore minimize food waste, lower GHG emissions and increase resource efficiency.