ABSTRACT
Food loss and waste (FLW) never occurs in isolation. It is a symptom of underlying inefficiencies and ineffective processes that exist in businesses and along food supply chains. Financial, reputational and opportunity costs associated with FLW can have a greater impact on processors’ and distributors’ performance than the face value of FLW occurring within (or related to) their individual operations. The externalities of FLW negatively impact the modern food industry’s environmental sustainability.
The root causes of FLW and associated wastes stem from a multitude of factors related with individual businesses and the wider environment in which they operate. Using examples taken from projects completed in the international food industry, the chapter will describe the impact that FLW in food processing and distribution can have on individual businesses and overall food systems. The chapter describes common causes found to lead to the creation of FLW in processing and distribution, and pragmatic easy-to-follow steps that businesses and researchers can follow to determine the business case for investing in the reduction of FLW and associated wastes. The chapter concludes by describing how identifying the root causes of FLW assists businesses and wider industry stakeholders to design effective sustainable solutions. These sustainable solutions result from having quantified, analyzed and mitigated the environmental, economic and social issues associated with FLW.
