Supermarket food waste scorecard
What are supermarkets doing to tackle food waste?
Supermarkets hold a lot of power in the food supply chain – the big retailers have over 85% of the market share of grocery stores in the UK. We ranked the UK’s top ten supermarkets based on publicly available information on their work to reduce food waste. Our ranking assessed the supermarkets against the food use hierarchy which requires that prevention be the priority towards tackling waste.
What's the problem?
Despite many laudable initiatives to tackle food waste, supermarkets are failing to successfully reduce waste in their stores, supply chains and customers’ homes. Despite leadership from a few retailers, many lag behind on the most basic steps to further their food waste reduction, such as publishing transparent data and converting food surplus to animal feed. And no supermarket is truly getting to grips with how their marketing and sales tactics cause waste in their customers’ homes. This begs the question – is a ‘waste-free’ supermarket possible?
What's the solution?
We need supermarkets to step up to the plate and take meaningful action to reduce food waste and develop sustainable supply chains. This involves:
- Providing transparent data on food waste across their supply chain
- Working to help citizens reduce food waste – supermarkets need to recognise that a significant reduction in household food waste will be mirrored by a reduction in supermarket sales
- Committing to ensure that any unavoidable edible surplus food goes to feed people, rather than being disposed of.
Latest updates in this campaign
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What can you do to make a difference?
Read and share our report 'The food waste scorecard: an assessment of supermarket action to address food waste.'
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