How Capgemini and CGF are Reducing Food Waste

Reporting that 1.3 billion tons of edible food is estimated to be wasted annually, Capgemini says that people should rethink food waste as a lever for growth, efficiency and sustainability. 

The amount of food lost each year represents a loss of US$940bn to the global economy and adds 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases annually into the atmosphere according to The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF).

Capgemini is aiming to find ways to turn the wasted food into a source of value for brands and retailers.

Experts from CGF and Capgemini have collaborated and created the Food Waste Coalition of Action.

Sharon Bligh, Director for Health & Sustainability at The Consumer Goods Forum says: “We’re seeing a shift in mindset, waste is no longer just a cost to minimise, but a resource to optimise. 

“Our Coalition is moving from simply reducing avoidable food waste to designing waste out of the system entirely enabling value creation at every stage.”

What is The Consumer Goods Forum?

CGF’s vision is to create better lives through better business by bringing together consumer goods manufacturers and retailers to reign efficiency and positive change across the industry.

Focusing on several sustainability problems in the industry, minimising food waste is a key part of the company's goals.

Founded in 2009, the organisation now has twenty leading brands and retailers part of the Food Waste Coalition, such as Tesco, Coca Cola and Nestle.

As well as food waste the organisation is invested in several sustainability and humanitarian projects such as: 

• Eradicating forced labour and respecting worker’s rights 
• Coalition members are committed to advancing human rights in line with the UN guiding principles 
• Its People Positive Palm Project, driving collaboration between consumer goods companies, palm oil suppliers to push to eradicate forced labour

Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director of The Consumer Goods Forum, said in a statement: “Weathering short-term challenges cannot distract leaders from delivering long-term value to their companies and to people and the planet. 

“As the group of CEOs set out in this report, success depends  not only on how leaders work in their companies but also how they work with others across the industry.

“No organisation can overcome the many challenges they face today alone. 

“Systemic solutions can only be created through collective action and this ethos is core to how the CGF operates.”

What is the Food Waste Coalition of Action?

The project aims to reimagine food loss by refocusing and seeing it as a solvable challenge rather than an unavoidable by product of the supply chain.

The Capegmini and CGF have worked together to pin point problems in supply chains and social norms. Through research it has found some key value drivers: 

• Increasing profitability- by utilising material optimisation and avoiding cost associated with over stock and tax to landfill, which will build on consumer engagement and open new review streams.
• Make sure to meet environmental regulations, avoiding fines and access to programs or funds for sustainable initiatives
• Enhance regenerative agriculture practices and strengthen supplier relationships

The organisation is still at the early stages of its work but it has set out preliminary insights into its recommendations and solutions.

As a first step the organisation suggests that businesses should prioritise food waste as part of its operational business improvement efforts as well as in sustainability plans.

It continued that businesses should leverage circular economy principles, train teams and create data foundations to enable the right insights.

Data driven sustainability is crucial in optimising food waste reduction interventions and predicting new technologies and capabilities.

More advanced organisations can repurpose waste to enable profitability, like upcycling old products to new or converting animal waste into feed.

As the final step after achieving substantial reductions a better understanding needs to be made of the drivers that are building waste into interactions, focusing on the intersection between manufacturers and retailers. 

What are the challenges to the project?

The Consumer Goods Forum reports that there are three barriers that are impacting the move:

• The culture of abundance - businesses feel pressure to over produce and keep shelves full with ideal products to meet today's consumption model of perfection. Making waste seem like an unavoidable cost to business.
• The wrong focus - businesses focus on areas of direct control rather than value chain transformation. The Consumer Goods Forum believes that what is needed now is a bold, collaborative, cross value chain approach that rewires incentives.
• A fragmented value chain - when retailers, suppliers and manufacturers don’t have shared goals it can create structural challenges like supply chain transparency, reverse logistics and food repurposing remaining unsolved.

Kees Jacobs, VP, Consumer Goods and Retail, Capgemini says: “Through our work with the Consumer Good Forum and the Food Waste Coalition for Action, we’re pinpointing the business processes that drive loss and waste across the value chain.

“We are laying the groundwork for a transformation that is not limited to the areas under the control of manufacturers and retailers, but truly systemic.”