Kerry joins Australian Food Pact to tackle food waste

Taste and nutrition company Kerry has joined the Australian Food Pact alongside Australia’s biggest food businesses to tackle the $36 billion food waste challenge.

Under the agreement, Kerry will set targets to cut food waste in its operations in line with the international best practice set out in the Target Measure Act process. The company will also work with supply partners to reduce food loss and waste in its supply chains.

Kerry Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa President and CEO, John Cahalane, said that supplying sustainable nutrition solutions is part of how we can solve the food waste challenge.

“The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that 35% of the food grown for human consumption in Australia is wasted, which equates to 7.6 million tonnes per annum,” Cahalane said.

He stressed that the food industry plays a crucial role in tackling this issue.

“As a leader in taste and nutrition solutions, Kerry’s goal is to work with our customers to reach over two billion people every day by 2030, helping consumers eat better, improve our local communities, reduce food waste and with it, environmental impact,” he said.

“We are committed to delivering the activities and initiatives included in our Food Waste Action Plan and look forward to working with Stop Food Waste Australia over the next three years,” he concluded.

Kerry will also quantify food waste in its operations using the World Resource Institute’s Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard and encourage major supply partners to do the same.

This will include an assessment of the volumes of food saved, lost or wasted in food donated, composting, energy from waste and landfill, among others, with the intent of turning surplus and wasted food into food recovery to benefit businesses and the community.

Mark Barthel, Stop Food Waste Australia Chief Operating Officer, welcomed Kerry Australia to the Australian Food Pact and thanked them for their commitment to the cause.

“We look forward to working closely with Kerry Australia on collaborative and innovative approaches to reducing food waste and food insecurity, delivering its sustainability objectives and unlocking new environmental, economic and societal value for the organisation, the communities in which it operates and for Australian consumers,” Barthel said.

As part of its commitment, Kerry will be leading and supporting initiatives and goals including working with food rescue and relief organisations to make sure no food safe for human consumption goes to waste.

The company will also increase the amount of safe, surplus food suitable for use as animal feed donated to farmers with a goal of increasing farmer donations by 50% by proportion of surplus food, all by 28 Feb 2025.

Food waste will also be considered in Kerry’s new product development process as it refreshes existing product lines or introduces new products to the market.

Launched in October 2021, the Australian Food Pact led by Stop Food Waste Australia (SFWA) is a voluntary agreement that brings together signatory companies to help tackle Australia’s annual $36.6 billion food waste challenge.

Woolworths, Coles, Mondelez International and Simplot are among the founding signatories.

Source: Kerry