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Food waste in the retail sector | UN Climate Change:Learn | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Food waste in the retail sector
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Video Summary
Summary
Core Theme
The retail sector, despite representing a smaller portion of total food waste by mass, has a significant environmental footprint and plays a crucial role in preventing waste across the entire food chain due to its connecting function and influence on stakeholders.
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hello and thank you for joining us for
module three
if we consider the entire food chain
less than ten percent of food sold by
retailers ends up in the beans which is
less than the food wasted at other stages
stages
yet food waste prevention in retail can
make a major difference
first off retail food waste has a higher
environmental footprint because it is
made up of all the resources used up to
this point in the food production
processing transportation and packaging
let's open up a quick bracket here and
explain the concept of environmental footprint
footprint
also known as ecological footprint it
reflects the diverse impact of a product
throughout its entire life cycle
including the land and water used and
pollution generated
a large part of a food product's
ecological footprint is the amount of
greenhouse gases it generates also known
as its carbon footprint
and now let's go back to food waste and retail
retail
surplus food in markets is mostly still
fit for human consumption and can be
repurposed for example through food donations
donations
this is why reducing retail food waste
is so important
retailers as well as wholesalers play a
crucial connecting function in the food
chain which makes it an excellent point
to measure and take action to reduce
food waste
the market is a place where various
stakeholders come together and cooperate
including farmers food manufacturers
consumers and restaurantes
in industrialized countries the realtor
sector is usually dominated by a few big
companies with high purchasing power
in sweden five food retailers control
over 90 percent of the market
in many emerging and developing
countries big retailers are also gaining ground
ground
indonesia is seeing the fast growth of
modern supermarkets in comparison to
traditional wet markets
in south africa small kiosks and
informal street vendors are still quite
popular but supermarket chains are
gaining ground in affluent urban areas
however in their pursuit to offer an
enhanced customer experience
these supermarkets are adopting wasteful
practices like discarding products that
do not follow strict domestic criteria
despite some progress it is often hard
to understand where and why food waste
is in the retail sector occurs
due to data confidentiality total
assessments at the national level or
even just for individual retailers are
difficult to combine furthermore
furthermore
the available data mostly exists for
supermarket chains in industrialized
countries while data for wholesalers
street markets and small grocery stores
especially in emerging and developing
countries is largely missing
big retail companies generally keep a
record of the cost of unsold products
which is considered a loss of revenue
but in order to calculate food waste
this financial data must be converted
into absolute mass and environmental
impact of the unsold food whilst this
conversion process isn't perfect it can
provide a rough estimate of the waste
generated by product category such as
meat dairy or vegetables
fresh fruit and vegetables constitute
the bulk of the overall mass of food
wasted in retail
however if we look at the economic value
or climate impact animal products
especially meat have a much higher
footprint per kilogram
waste costs money so there is a
financial reason for supermarkets to
minimize it
some supermarket chains seem to be doing
a great job at it for example in 2021
swiss retailer dana reported less than
one percent waste
but besides decreasing waste on store
premises retailers can also make a
positive impact on the amount of waste
of curing before as well as after fully sold
sold
let's look first at the food waste that
could occur before the food even makes
it to the stool
products not meeting specifications set
by the purchasing department are often
rejected on site at the cost of the supplier
supplier
for example imperfect or wonky produce
big supermarkets may also have take-back
policies that allow them to return
unsold food to producers and suppliers
essentially shifting the food waste
problem onto them
farmers often produce more food than
necessary because they want to make sure
they meet pre-agreed amounts and do not
incur penalties
this practice can lead to systematic overproduction
overproduction
such strict contracts between retailers
and food suppliers can translate into
unfair trade practices such as the ones
we discussed in module 2.
once the food has entered the store it
may become waste due to low demand
short shelf life on suitable packaging
or storage conditions and inappropriate
handling by both staff and consumers
retailers aim to stock just the right
amount of all products
meaning striking a balance between no
empty shelves and no unsellable products
that may cause a surplus
unfortunately demand is hard to predict
greater product variability may make
sales even more uncertain
in fact studies have shown that discount
retailers with smaller product
assortments generate less in-store food
waste in emerging and developing
countries food is often wasted due to
improper storage
for example the lack of a cold chain
during transport and retail poor
transportation conditions such as
efficient roads lack protecting
packaging lengthy distances or a
challenging natural environment with
extreme temperatures humidity levels and rainfall
rainfall
lastly retailers strongly influence
shopping behavior so they are partially
responsible for the household food waste
occurring later in the chain
factors that may play a role include
food in store displays the quality of
food products sold and special promotions
promotions
offering more convenient pack sizes or
selling better quality perishable food
can considerably decrease consumer waste
as we have seen in this video the retail
sector is key to reducing waste across
the food chain
in the next video we will explore some
of the measures that can help to achieve this
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