Reducing Food Wastage: The Key to Improving Sustainability and Cost Efficiency

OVERVIEW

Food waste is a well-recognized issue throughout the food supply chain. Loss estimates run anywhere from 30% to 50%. Water, fertilizer, manpower, facility overhead costs, delivery/planting/production/storage and delivery, carbon emissions, environmental pollution and other food production expenses are lost along with the food that cannot be consumed.

Food waste, as defined by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, refers to the “discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that is safe and nutritious for human consumption along the entire food supply chain, from primary production to the end household consumer level.”
In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the first-ever domestic goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2030.

This webinar will look at food waste reduction strategies and sustainability. When companies target food waste prevention, not only are they in a self-directed cost savings strategy, but the result can often impact sustainability, the environment and food security.

The acceptance of small margins throughout the food supply chain is a state of mind that must be overcome through better food waste management system.

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND

Most companies will not move off ground zero to attack sustainability, pollution or potential food security issues until they can justify cultural changes from a cost savings position. Food waste reduction provides the business goal that justifies the business shift the food industry needs.
In this webinar, we will explore the interrelationships among lost revenues, food waste, sustainability, and environmental pollution. Measurement of food waste throughout processes will be explored with the objective of partitioning losses, setting improvement targets and reporting savings up the management structure.
A ground up strategy will be presented along with information from companies that have been working on how to reduce food waste globally, and been able to show cost savings as well as reduced food waste and improved sustainability.

AREAS COVERED

• Measuring food waste
• Team driven improvement efforts
• Companies driving sustainability and food waste improvement efforts
• Using blockchain to drive food waste reductions through smart contracts
• Donating excess food
• Out of date labels
• Understanding cycle time inventory reductions
• Consumer sustainability trends and willingness to pay more
• WHO food security findings
• Food packaging and food labelling issues

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Learn to measure waste at every level
• Overcoming the psychology that food waste is okay
• Implement a basic team approach to food savings and sustainability reporting
• Review some successful companies and their solutions to reduce food waste
• Find out who is involved
• Understand the evolving government position on sustainability and food waste
• Look at how blockchain is helping to minimize food waste
• Understand consumer willingness to pay more for sustainability and food waste prevention
• Understand how labels and packaging impact losses

WHO WILL BENEFIT

• Product procurement personnel needing to drive supplier cost reductions
• U.S. food processors, distributors, retailers and restaurant chains
• Restaurant and retail inventory control and buyers
• Foreign food producers, importers and exporters
• Food safety and quality specialists
• Processing, carrier and distributor Facility owners and managers
• Process and facility sanitation and maintenance personnel
• Company compliance officers
• Restaurant and food retail store owners and managers

SPEAKER

Dr. John Ryan is a certified Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PQCI) specializing in food safety process control and food safety plan validation.  He holds a Ph.D. in research and statistical methods and has extensive international manufacturing quality and operations experience in large and small manufacturing operations and he is a retired Hawaii State Department of Agriculture Quality Assurance Division administrator.  He currently operates two business divisions focused on food safety system validation and transportation controls. He has previously published books entitled “Food Fraud”, “Guide to Food Safety and Quality During Transportation 2nd edition”, “Validating Preventive Food Safety and Quality Controls, and “Teams and Teamwork”. All are available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.