Global Food Losses
and Food Waste
Jenny Gustavsson, Christel Cederberg & Ulf Sonesson
SIK – The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology
Save Food Congress, Düsseldorf 16 May 2011
The assignment
– Collect, analyze and assemble knowledge on
global food losses and waste.
– Knowledge is limited!
Two studies:
Medium and high income countries:
Region 1: Europe (including Russia)
Region 2: USA, Canada, Australia & New Zeeland
Region 3: China, Japan, South Korea
Low income countries:
Region 4: Sub-Saharan Africa
Region 5: North Africa, Central Asia & Western Asia
Region 6: South and Southeastern Asia
Region 7: Latin Amerika
1
2
ScopeFor each region:
Agricultural
production
Postharvest
handling and
storage
Processing
and packaging
Distribution Consumption
Cereals
Roots & tubers
Fruit & Vegetables
Oilseeds & pulses
Meat
Fish & Seafood
Milk & Eggs
Questions:
• Volumes produced?
• Percentage of losses/waste in each step of the food supply chain?
• Amounts of food lost/wasted?
• Economic costs of food losses/waste?
• Energy required for producing losses/waste?
• Causes of losses/waste?
• How to prevent losses/waste?
Methods• Literature study
• Personal contact with researchers
• Local FAO-Officers
• Food Balance Sheets
• Food prices (producer + retail)
• LCA- studies on food production
• Calculations and combinations of data from
different sources
• Estimations and assumptions!
Percentage of waste - trendsWhole food supply chain
Low income countries
%
Step in food supply chain
Medium and high income
countries
Volumes of waste
Total:
SSA: 15-20 Mton – 7 billion USD
North Africa, Western Asia & Central Asia: 25-30 Mton – 12 billion USD
South & Southeastern Asia: 85-90 Mton – 24 billion USD
Latin America: 20-25 Mtons – 11 billion USD
Example cereals:
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Agricultural production
Postharvest handling and storage
Processing and packaging
Distribution Consumption Total
Mtons
SSA NA,WA&CA S&SE Asia LA
Volumes of waste
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Agricultural production
Postharvest handling and storage
Processing and packaging
Distribution Consumption Total
Mtons
Europe NA&Oce Ind. Asia
Total:
Europe: 40-45 Mton – 57 billion USD
North America & Oceania: 23-37 Mton – 33 billion USD
Industrialized Asia: 90-95 Mton – 29 billion USD
Example cereals:
Range of wastage
Commodity group Total in chain (min) Total in chain (max)
Cereals 19 % (SSA) 32% (NAm&Oce)
Oil crops and pulses 18% (Ind. Asia) 29 % (NAf, WA& CA)
Roots and tubers 33% (NAf, WA&CA) 60 % (NAm&Oce)
Fruit and vegetables 37% (Ind. Asia) 55% (NAf,WA&CA)
Meat 20% (S&SE Asia) 27% (SSA)
Fish and seafood 30% (LA) 50% (NAm&Oce)
Milk 11% (Ind.Asia) 25% (SSA)
Egg 12% (SSA) 20% (NAm&Oce)
Summary results
Commodity
group
Low income High income Total
Cereals 155 800 161 100 316 900
Roots &
Tubers
123 100 121 600 244 700
Oilseeds &
Pulses
31 500 11 600 43 100
Fruit &
Vegetables
221 600 270 400 492 000
Meat 20 000 40 700 60 700
Fish &
Seafood
6 700 10 700 17 400
Milk & Eggs 64 700 55 000 119 700
(1000 tons)
Poor storage facilities
©FAO/Vasily Maximov
Tajikistan: Man winnowing rice drying in the sun
Causes of food losses?Low income countries: emphasis early in the supply chain!
• Warm/humid climate
• Rodents
• Parasites
• Fungus
Poor infrastructure and transportation,
lack of refrigeration
©SIK/Friederike Ziegler
Causes of food losses?Low income countries: emphasis early in the supply chain!
©FAO/Diana Giampiero
Nicaragua: truck loaded with mangoes
Bangladesh: rickshaws transporting
milk from farm to processing plant
Causes of food losses?Low income countries: emphasis early in the supply chain!
Inadequate market facilities
©FAO/O. Argenti
Pakistan: Trading of food at central market
•Unsanitary
•Crowded
•Lack of refrigeration
Poor packaging
Rwanda
©Lisa Kitinoja
Rwanda: Large basket of tomatoes
Rwanda
©SK Roy
Rwanda: Large sack of leafy greens
Causes of food losses?Low income countries: emphasis early in the supply chain!
Causes of food waste?High income countries: emphasis late in the supply chain!
Quality standards
©SIK
Fruit and vegetables in retail store
•Photogenic sensors
•Aestetic defects:
-Not bright orange
-Blend or blemish
-Broken
-25-30%
Causes of food waste?High income countries: emphasis late in the supply chain!
Food manufacture
©SIK
French fries produced from potato
•Sorted out potatoes (<10%)
•Trimming scraps (2-12%)
•Sorted out french fries (1-10%)
•Transportation losses
during processing (1-10%)
Causes of food waste?High income countries: emphasis late in the supply chain!
Poor environmental conditions during display
©SIK
Fruit and vegetables in retail store
•Poor temperature management!
- Chilling sensitive – too cold
- Heat sensitive – too warm
•Major reason for retail waste
of F&V (55%)
Causes of food waste?High income countries: emphasis late in the supply chain!
©SIK
Fruit and vegetables in retail store
Lack of planning – limited focus on waste
• Central kitchen
• Local school kitchen
• Lack of communication/coordination
• Food could not be stored for
the next day – trade-off with food safety
Causes of food waste?High income countries: emphasis late in the supply chain!
Best-before-dates
©SIK
Eggs
55%, UK households
Food may still be good to eat!
- Best-before-date?
- Use-by-date?
Causes of food waste?High income countries: emphasis late in the supply chain!
Leftovers
©SIK
Leftovers from serving
42%, UK households
From:
•Cooking
•Preparing
•Serving
How to prevent food losses?
Low income countries:
- Local investments
- Education
- Cooling chain when possible
- Improved packaging
- Improved market facilities
High income countries:
- Improved communication in supply chains
- Awareness!
- Consumer power
- Improved purchase and consumption planning
- Education (best-before-dates)
How to prevent food waste?
Conclusions
- Losses are largest for Fruit &Vegetables
(percentage, volumes, financial, energy)
- Substantial gaps in knowledge, throughout
the food chain!
- Coordinated research is needed
- Reducing food losses is an important
option to increase food availability