Nestlé among members of newly launched Coalition of Action on Food Waste

The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) has launched a CEO-led Coalition of Action on Food Waste, which brings together 14 of ‘the world’s largest’ retailers and manufacturers.

The Coalition will see members, including food behemoths like Nestlé and Kellogg Company, collaborate with the aim of halving per capita global food loss at the retailer and consumer levels.

According to the CGF, a third of food produced is never eaten, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost each year and represents a cost to the global economy of $940 billion.

Food waste is also reportedly responsible for adding 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the planet’s atmosphere annually.

Other companies among the 14 initial members of the Coalition include: Bel Group, General Mills, McCain Foods, Tesco, Ahold Delhaize and Walmart.

The Coalition is sponsored at the CGF board level by Dave Lewis, group chief executive of Tesco, and Max Koeune, president and CEO of McCain Foods. The Coalition steering committee is co-chaired by Francisco Cordero of Kellogg Company and Brittni Furrow of Ahold Delhaize USA.

In joining the Coalition, members commit to reporting their data on food loss by 2021 and addressing food loss at the post-harvest level, by engaging with stakeholders to develop effective prevention strategies.

Companies also agree to scale up the 10x20x30 Initiative from CGF partner Champions 12.3, a multi-stakeholder organisation working to reach UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3. The Champions 12.3 initiative involves engaging 20 priority suppliers to halve rates of food loss and waste by 2030, in line with the SDG.

To support these global commitments, the group is also creating regional working groups to drive implementation at the local level and to help engage key stakeholders in those regions.

Ignacio Gavilan, director of environmental sustainability at the CGF, said: “Food loss is a serious global problem and it can only be effectively addressed through committed collective action. The launch of the Coalition of Action on Food Waste is a positive and important step to creating sustainable food strategies and preventing loss, and we look forward to seeing the impact the Coalition will have on the issue”.