Retail giant Tesco Lotus redirects surplus food to the hungry

Tesco Lotus is leading the retail sector in working to reduce food waste in the food supply chain from farm to table, in cooperation with growers and consumers. 

Dr Rosa S. Rolle, the FAO’s senior  agro-industries and post-harvest officer noted that globally, an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is lost or wasted every year, while one in eight people in the world goes hungry every day. Food waste also has environmental impacts, while food losses and food waste are also a waste of farm resources such as land, water and energy.

Food waste occurs at every stage of the supply chain from planting, harvest, transportation to the retail store, and at consumers’ dining tables. It has many impacts - social, economic or environmental.

“Pre and post-harvest losses account for most of the food loss in developing countries. Between 15 and 50 per cent of the fresh fruit and vegetables, and between 12 and 37 percent of grains produced across Asia and the Pacific region are lost between the farm and the market. Consumers also waste food with their shopping and consumption habits, such with poor planning of the use of food bought and poor storage. In many countries there is a culture of leaving food on the plate.” 

While both developed and developing countries are facing the food waste challenge, FAO has suggested strategies to reduce food waste at the policy level, such as taxes on food waste which have been implemented in Japan and South Korea. FAO also recommends that the food service sector should charge customers for leftovers or promote the use of ‘doggy bags’. In addition, it is important to raise awareness and participation in all sectors of society.

Tesco Lotus head of public affairs Charkrit Direkwattanachai said that Tesco Lotus, as a leading retailer, is in a good position to help address the food waste issue. “Tesco Lotus adopts a strategy of reducing losses and waste all along the supply chain, from farm to table. We also prevent waste by giving food products we cannot sell to the needy, besides building awareness of food waste among consumers.”

To reduce food waste from farm to table, Tesco Lotus focuses on buying produce directly from growers, enabling them to plan their planting and reduce oversupply which results in food losses. Tesco Lotus also works with farmers to develop packaging and transportation systems to reduce losses during delivery. Once produce arrives at a store, Tesco Lotus has appropriate storage to reduce losses at the point of sale.

Tesco Lotus also prevents food waste by donating food unsuitable for sale to the needy, such as good eggs from damaged packs to needy schoolchildren. In addition, Tesco Lotus is raising awareness and engaging consumers through public relations activities and social media.

Sakol Thinakul, deputy director-general of the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, said the volume of waste is increasing in Thailand, which generated 26.77 million tonnes of consumer waste in 2013. Some 64 per cent of that waste was food. Thais are only able to dispose of less than 70 per cent of their waste, leaving the rest to create  environmental hazards and contribute to global warming.