Doing its part to address a global problem, Fyffes has committed to reducing food loss in its own operations by 80% by 2030, according to a news release.
About a third of all the food produced in the world goes to waste each year, representing about 7% of total greenhouse gas emissions, the release said. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, an area larger than China is used to grow food that is never eaten.
“Our commitment to reducing food loss from our production processes is part of our Sustainability Strategy,” Caoimhe Buckley, Fyffes’ director of corporate affairs, said in the release. “We are planning to do this by repurposing our food loss through the development of new applications and uses for our core products, as well as further improving our logistics and planning capabilities.”
Feedback Global, a nonprofit group engaged with the food waste issue, has estimated that all the world’s nearly one billion hungry people could be fed on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the U,S., the United Kingdom and Europe, according to the release.
Reducing food loss and educating people on food waste are key targets of Fyffes Healthy Food for Healthy Lives sustainability pillar, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12, Responsible Production and Consumption, the release said.
The UN SDG 12.3 commits to cutting food waste by half at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along the production and supply chains by 2030.
The release said Fyffes also works with qualified partners around the globe to donate surplus food to people in need, including Philabundance in North America, Global Foodbanking Network in Latin America, FoodShare in the UK and FoodCloud in Ireland, and others.
As part of its efforts to educate people on food waste, Fyffes has partnered with leading U.K. sustainability charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) for their first Food Waste Action Week campaign.
That event takes place from March 1-March 7, with a gaol to raise awareness about food waste and its impact on climate change.
Fyffes will be sharing simple and easy-to-follow tips on the company’s social media channels throughout Food Waste Action Week using the hashtag #FoodWasteActionWeek.
