Food Waste Minimisation in New Zealand Supply Chains

The Center for Supply Chain Management (CSCM) organised an online panel discussion on food waste minimisation in New Zealand supply chains on Thursday 7 October. The panelists, Karen Titulaer, Gavin Findlay and Michal Garvey talked about food waste minimisation at different parts of the supply chain, from manufacturing to end consumers, focusing on recent innovations and the effect of COVID-19.

Food waste is indeed a global issue of great public concern. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that a third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. Food waste is not only about the waste of all the resources that went into producing the food or the irony of the rising world’s hunger problem, but also about the huge amount of harmful greenhouse gases it releases into the atmosphere.

From a manufacturer’s point of view, Karen Titulaer, head of legal, risk and sustainability at Villa Maria, explained how they are tackling food waste by reducing, reusing and recycling. The big challenge of wine industries, grape marc, also was discussed. Grape marc is the remaining skins, seeds and stalks of the grapes after being processed in the factory. Karen explained how innovation (i.e. finding ways to use grape marc as a resource), technology (such as biodigesters) and cross-industry collaboration can be a game-changer.

At the wholesale level, Gavin Findlay, CEO at NZ Food Network explained how this not-for-profit organisation was founded to make the reality of food waste a social venture to get food to where it’s needed most. They found a gap between large-scale producers, growers and wholesalers with pallets and bins of bulk surplus and food rescue organisations such as KiwiHarvest. They filled this gap by unpacking and repacking bulk food into cartoons and providing suitable storage until food hubs (e.g. food rescue organisations, charities and iwi) request it through their online portal.

And finally, at the retail level, Michal Garvey, founder and director at Foodprint, explained their solution for the hospitality sector food waste problem. Given that over 60 percent of food waste from cafes, restaurants and supermarkets is completely avoidable, they made a mobile application to connect eateries around New Zealand with customers. Using this application, the food that used to be wasted can be redirected to customers at a lower price.

You can find the recording and all the presentations on our website.