{"id":26128,"date":"2017-11-15T21:50:11","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T02:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/retails-role-in-eliminating-global-food-waste\/"},"modified":"2017-11-15T21:52:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T02:52:18","slug":"retails-role-in-eliminating-global-food-waste","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/retails-role-in-eliminating-global-food-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail\u2019s role in eliminating Global Food Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is generally undisputed that greenhouse gases are emitted during food production (e.g., using machinery to harvest grains and vegetables, and methane emissions from raising livestock). Furthermore, carbon-emitting resources are put to use in order to process, package, transport and market these foods. What too often gets brushed over, though, is the impact on the environment from the foods that go unconsumed.<\/p>\n

An estimated one third of food produced across the world for human consumption is wasted. Not only does this squander the resources put to use producing this food, but also food waste generates and emits even more greenhouse gases, in the form of methane, when placed in dumps [1]. If global food waste were a country, it\u2019s carbon footprint would be the third largest, after China and the United States [2].<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image Source: [2]<\/em><\/p>\n

In the developing world, much of food waste is attributed to loss of food that takes place during the production phase. However, in the developed world, innovations have helped get the majority of produced food to the retailer level. It\u2019s at this point that things go south. Grocers, out of fear of running out of inventory, often over-order and consequently dump perfectly good food when shelf space runs out. Mis-shapen fruits and vegetables are discarded for more beautiful versions. And \u201cbest by\u201d dates are misinterpreted as actual dates of expiration. When added up, American food retailers typically see annual in-store losses of 43 billion pounds of food [1]. Above and beyond moral, ethical or personal reasons that may inspire the leadership team of a retailer to combat the food waste problem, better management of food supply presents a meaningful opportunity for retailers to improve their bottom lines. In fact, in an analysis of 700 companies spanning manufacturing, retail, hospitality and food service, half of them showed a $14 return on every $1 invested in food waste reduction [4].<\/p>\n

Tesco, a British multinational grocer, has been an industry leader in the fight against food waste. Since 2009, the organization has been making adjustments to its own operations as a means of zero-ing out the amount of food sent to landfills. This past September, it launched a Supplier Partnership initiative to encourage similar practices earlier along the food chain. These steps include:<\/p>\n

Short term:<\/p>\n