15 August 2024
Press Release
A new project bringing together leading food businesses aims to uncover the root causes of the tens of millions of loaves of bread wasted each year in New Zealand.
The initiative, which involves creating a detailed map of the bread supply chain in New Zealand, is a collaboration between several of the signatories of the Kai Commitment Voluntary Agreement on food waste. The companies involved are Goodman Fielder, George Weston Foods, Woolworths NZ, AS Wilcox and Nestle.
Kaitlin Dawson, Executive Director of New Zealand Food Waste Champions and Kai Commitment, says wasted bread has economic implications for growers, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers, as well as environmental and social impacts, and that it’s critical to look at all parts of the value chain to understand where waste occurs and what can be done about it.
“Bread is one the most wasted food items in our country, and we want to understand the root causes of this waste, identify solutions that are working and new opportunities for interventions at each stage.
‘While we know some of the causes of waste, particularly at a household level, it is crucial we look more widely across the supply chain in order to uncover the hidden drivers between stakeholders and sectors. This ensures we can better understand how decisions made at each stage may be driving or preventing waste at another.
Dawson says the group will draw on the expertise and experience of the participating businesses and will also reach out to key stakeholders at each stage of the bread supply chain to learn about the drivers of food waste.
“We intend to leverage the expertise of the many stakeholders across the value chain, from wheat growers and importers to bread manufacturers, transporters, and retailers. We know there is waste at each stage, this project will enable us to uncover opportunities to prevent, reduce or redistribute that waste ultimately guide where to focus our reduction efforts. At the end of the day, we are talking about resources going to waste, whether that's human time and money or natural resources such as water, electricity, and fuel.
Two of the country’s largest bread manufacturers, Goodman Fielder and George Weston Foods, who combined represent over 70 % of the bread category, are key taking part in the project. While the others bring insights from growers, other manufacturing sectors and retailers.
Dawson says that a wider objective of the project is to demonstrate the insights gained from across-sector pre-competitive collaboration and hopes that other sectors can use this as a blueprint for identifying the opportunities to reduce food waste within their own operations and wider supply chain.
The project is expected to take three months, with a finalised map expected to be completed in early 2025.
Ends
For more information, please contact:
Saraid Black
New Zealand Food Waste Champions & Kai Commitment Communications Manager
0274 732211
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