food waste from f&b companies

Food waste contributes to approximately 10% of the total waste generated, yet less than 15% of it is recycled. The amount of food waste produced in Singapore has unfortunately been increasing over the past 10 years, which could be due to the growing population and affluence.

However, Singapore has started to take actions by setting goals. Under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint, Singapore aims to achieve an overall recycling rate of 70% by 2030. Recycling and reducing food waste is also part of the plans for Singapore to become a Zero Waste Nation. Naturally, the preferred solution to manage food waste is to reduce as much of it as possible.

In a survey conducted by students under the Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Programme, the results have indicated that Singaporeans (the consumers) has concerns about food waste generated from F&B companies. Here are some of the key findings:

• Singaporeans do not agree with all sources of food waste, especially from bakeries

• Age is positively correlated with food waste concerns, and females are more concerned than males (I'm thinking that this could be because usually the housewives are the ones buying groceries?)

• Participants are curious to know about food reduction strategies adopted by F&B companies, especially for retail supermarkets, expressed their interests in wanting F&B companies to donate their excess, unused food products to charities  

• Participants are willing to continue patronizing and buy their products (as compared to no difference in support), spread the word about their efforts if companies do adopt food waste reduction measures

In a nutshell, it can be seen that consumers are concerned about food waste and that F&B companies should take actions to reduce food waste. This could be done through donate unsold food, sell it at a discounted price, reduce food waste through other means (such as during storage, transportation or cooking), or even to sell food in smaller portions. The consumers' attitudes are definitely a positive sign, which could help Singapore to progress towards a Zero Waste Nation :)

In the survey, respondents also listed the companies that they would most like to know about, in term of their food waste reduction strategies. And.. the top of the list was NTUC Fairprice, with Breadtalk following behind.

That's all for this post! Stay tuned for the next post where I will talk about how NTUC Fairprice has started to take action to reduce their food waste!

References:
CHUA THIAN POH COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE. (2015) Report - Survey to understand consumer attitudes toward food waste by F&B companies in Singapore. [Online] Available from: http://www.zerowastesg.com/download/2343/ [Accessed: 9/10/2015]

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY. (2015) Factsheet on food waste management. [Online] 11 March 2015. Available from: http://www.nea.gov.sg/docs/default-source/corporate/COS-2015/cos-2015-media-factsheet---food-waste.pdf?sfvrsn=0 [Accessed: 9/10/2015]