NZ initiative to reduce food waste across supply chain

A voluntary agreement between leading food sector businesses to reduce food waste across NZ’s food supply chain will be launched this month.

Called the Kai Commitment project, the initiative of the New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3 Trust is designed to help businesses to set a target and actions to reduce food waste and associated emissions according to best-practice standards.

The initiative will also help businesses:

• identify cost savings and new revenue streams from preventing or reusing food waste
• collaborate across the supply chain on shared food waste challenges
• showcase leadership and success, including through collective reporting.

According to the NZ Food and Grocery Council (FGC), members Goodman Fielder, Fonterra Brands, and Silver Fern Farms are among the founding signatories, which also include Countdown.

The initiative has also invited other FGC members to join, saying that other voluntary agreements across the globe have shown that they can be successful at reducing food waste and return around $14 for every dollar invested in solutions.

After its launch, the Kai Commitment will gather data on food waste to showcase success and identify hotspots that need attention. It will work with individual businesses to identify where they are on their journey to reduce waste and help them set targets.

For more information, visit https://kaicommitment.org.nz/.

Image credit: iStock.com/GgWink