Canadian food and beverage companies to reduce food waste

GUELPH, Ont. – The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity has received a grant of US$520,049.40 from the Walmart Foundation to probe Canadian attitudes on food waste and to help food and beverage businesses make measurable food waste reductions in their facilities.

This grant is part of the Walmart Foundation’s $15 million USD commitment to prevent food waste and support food banks.

With this funding, the Canadian Centre for Food integrity will work with Provision Coalition to connect with food and beverage manufacturing companies across Canada to drive food loss and waste prevention and reduction strategies in facilities.

Approximately 18 percent of food wasted across the supply chain occurs within Canada’s 6,500 manufacturing facilities, while almost 50 percent continues to be wasted by Canadian consumers.

To better understand the Canadian consumer and how best to implement successful food waste awareness and reduction strategies, the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity will conduct first of its kind public trust research into attitudes and perceptions of food waste.

“Our thanks to the Walmart Foundation for recognizing the importance of preventing and reducing food waste across the supply chain in Canada. Together with the Walmart Foundation, the Canadian food and beverage manufacturing industry, the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity and Provision Coalition can make real headway in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for food waste reduction,” said Cher Mereweather, executive director, Provision Coalition.

“The Walmart Foundation is excited to support the work of the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity to reduce food waste in manufacturing, an important part of the supply chain,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and chief sustainability officer for Walmart.

“For over ten years, through philanthropic and business initiatives, Walmart has been working to reduce food waste and strengthen charitable programs to accelerate food recovery and get food to those who need it most.  Today we commit to accelerating progress in Canada. We hope this grant, combined with additional grants we are making to other leading non-profits, will catalyze collective action to reduce food waste all along the food chain, from farm to fork.”

Project Summary

• New public trust research will be conducted by the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity to probe Canadian consumer and food company leadership attitudes and perceptions of food waste.
• 50 manufacturing companies across Canada will be eligible for facility assessments to assist them in preventing and reducing food loss and waste.
• Provision Coalition’s Food Loss + Waste Toolkit 2.0 will be used by manufacturing companies to identify, quantify and address food waste within facilities.
• Collection of food loss and waste data from manufacturers will provide support for supply chain and government reduction commitments and build trust with consumers through communications.
• Canadian content and experts on food loss and waste will populate www.BestFoodFacts.org for sharing with Canadians to debunk myths and help shape the public conversation.

To learn more about the food systems transparency research for release at the 2018 Public Trust Summit or the Food Loss + Waste Cost-Share Program for Food and Beverage Manufacturers go to http://www.foodintegrity.ca/programs/walmart-partnership-project/ or https://www.provisioncoalition.com/programs/tacklingfoodlosswaste.