Reflect, rethink, reconsider: Why food waste is everybody’s problem

Food loss or waste continues to be a major problem across the lifecycle of food. It beggars belief that while around 870 million people around the planet are undernourished, almost 2.5 billion tons of food produce goes uneaten annually. Furthermore, food waste is a significant emitter of greenhouse gases, generating 8-10% of global emissions.

In our newest Capgemini Research Institute report, Reflect, Rethink, Reconsider: Why food waste is everybody’s problem, we explored the issue of food waste in depth to understand its causes as well as potential solutions from the perspective of both organizations and consumers. To this end, we conducted a detailed survey of 10,000 consumers and 1,000 large organizations in the food manufacturing and food retail space and interviewed experts from academia, organizational supply chains, and startups.

In particular, we aimed to understand current challenges around food waste, issues for consumers and their expectations, the role that technology can play, as well as leading practices to prevent, reclaim, and manage food waste. While recognizing that the highest proportion of food waste still occurs closest to consumers, we employ our analysis to suggest four key action areas for organizations to focus on to accelerate the fight against food waste.

To read more about the issue of food waste and how organizations can respond as part of a mutually supportive food-production ecosystem, download the report.