The first ever #FoodWasteActionWeek, launched by WRAP, encourages households to significantly reduce the food they waste, with a different theme each day, from food storage and portion planning to creative ways to use up food, and practical steps such as setting the fridge temperature correctly.

Waitrose reinforces commitment to tackling food waste

Waitrose says it is ‘boosting’ its efforts to help customers tackle food waste at home and in its supply chain and on farm through a number of initiatives.

Waitrose, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership, recently announced two major food waste commitments; Waitrose aims to cut food waste across the supply chain by 50% by 2030; and to help halve UK household food waste by 2030 by supporting customers in their own efforts in the home.

To coincide with its support of WRAP’s Food Waste Action Week from today, Waitrose will focus on a number of initiatives to accelerate progress in this area.

Waitrose initiatives to drive down food waste in the business and at home:

• Waitrose has teamed up with some of its biggest suppliers and food distribution organisation FareShare in a new trial to redirect surplus farm food to families in need. In total, five million surplus apples, crooked carrots, mushrooms and sweet baby sprouts will be redirected – aiming to create more than one million meals for vulnerable families across the UK.
• Waitrose is working with its suppliers to identify supply chain food waste hotspots and implement programmes of activity to address them. One example includes Waitrose supplier Worldwide Fruit who have undertaken a whole supply chain waste analysis of royal gala, jazz and braeburn apples to understand where food is wasted. The process has already enabled Worldwide Fruit to divert three tonnes of surplus apples to charity.
• Waitrose is collaborating with suppliers to host online cooking demonstrations using surplus ingredients. In November 2020, Waitrose worked with Alpro and Fareshare to  film simple, yet nutritious recipe demonstrations for their community chefs.
• This week, Waitrose has launched new dedicated food waste pages on its website offering hints and tips on reducing food waste, including zero waste recipes and using up leftovers.  Waitrose also produced a podcast as part of its ‘Life on A Plate’ series where Waitrose Food Editor Alison Oakervee and restaurant critic, writer and editor Jimi Famurewa, chat with Nadia Hussein about her views on food waste and tips for reducing food waste at home.
• Waitrose continues to work with FareShare, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger and reducing food waste across the UK. Waitrose works with Fareshare to link its shops with local good causes who collect surplus food for people in need. Any stores with leftover food can scan and upload products using the FareShare app.  This is then collected by local charities. So far, over 4 million meals have been donated from Waitrose shops and distribution centres.
• Waitrose sells its essential ‘A Little Less than Perfect’ range of fruit and vegetables to avoid food waste on farms. They may look unusual but they are grown to Waitrose’s usual high standards and always taste delicious.
• Waitrose always buys whole animals from trusted farmers so that no fresh meat goes to waste. The Waitrose ‘Forgotten Cuts’ range encourages customers to be more adventurous when choosing meat. Lesser known cuts like pigs’ cheeks, beef short ribs or lamb liver might take a little longer to cook but are just as delicious.
• Waitrose is working with a number of brands and suppliers who use food surplus from farms in their products, including: Toast Ale, Rubies in the Rubble and DA-SH.
• Waitrose will continue to offer Partners and customers items at a reduced price when they are nearing their use by date.

Purina targets food waste by using surplus brewery grains in dog treat pilot

Purina has created a new dog treat formulated with ‘nutritious surplus grains’ from breweries.

By using grains that might otherwise be left to spoil, Purina is able to reduce food waste, re-purposing this nutritiously dense substance as a pet food ingredient.

The new treat will be sold under the AdVENTuROS^TM brand over a six-week trial phase in the Netherlands. The product is expected to reach thousands of customers as part of a limited scale pilot focused on gauging consumer response.

It is the latest creation from Purina’s LiveLab innovation unit, which works to actively explore industry challenges and develop new product and packaging solutions to respond to changing consumer demand.

As part of this mission, the LiveLab team is actively engaged with generating innovative new ideas and solutions to improve the environmental impact of Purina products. LiveLab’s previous creation of Purina’s Beyond Nature’s Protein uses alternative proteins to make better use of the planet’s resources.

Developed as a rapid innovation in response to social and consumer trends, the AdVENTuROS^TM new treat journey took just six months from conception to launch.

Nestlé Purina EMENA Director of Insight and Innovation Olena Topilnytska said: “As a business, we are always exploring ways in which we can grow. But in order to do so responsibly, it is essential that we seek opportunities to make a positive difference throughout our activities, from sourcing to product portfolio. This is why LiveLab identified upcycling as such an exciting and important avenue to explore within the pet care sector.

“Upcycling means taking ingredients that otherwise would be wasted and turning them into new nutritious products. Through the upcycling of surplus grains from breweries, we are able to create a nutritious treat for dogs that reduces waste and provides a more sustainable option for consumers.”

Purina will assess customer feedback in real time during the six-week trial period, with the response helping to determine future deployment and scale-up of the product.

Online retailer backs Food Waste Action Week

Surplus food and drink retailer Approved Food is backing the inaugural Food Waste Action Week, organised by the national sustainability body WRAP.

The UK manufacturing sector wastes around 1.5 million tonnes of food every year, including food that has passed its best before date being binned when it is still perfectly good to eat, or due to packaging changes or overruns. Approved Food rescues some of this problem stock and makes it available to customers at a knock-down price.

As a strategic partner of the event Approved Food is offering one lucky winner 12 months’ supply of rescued food and drink worth £720 (and significantly more at original RRP) and is offering spot prizes each day of the week, bringing the total giveaway to more than £1,000.

Other prizes up for grabs include a fridge freezer, signed cookbooks and a year’s supply of milk. Go to the Approved Food website for details of how to enter: www.approvedfood.co.uk or the WRAP website.

Approved Food brand ambassador Jonathan Straight commented: “At Approved Food we are passionate about stopping food from going to waste. We rescue perfectly good surplus food every single day by stopping it going to landfill or other forms of disposal. We make this food available to our customers as well as donating some of it to helping the needy.

“One of our biggest motivators is the impact that wasting food has on our planet. We want to make a difference and so we are getting behind Food Waste Action Week to raise awareness of this issue. We are doing as much as we can, but it is easy for others to reduce their own food waste at home. This is something we really want to encourage.”