Zero food waste: Corporate commitments to waste reduction

World Food Safety Day, observed June 7, raises awareness of the need to streamline food safety practices and reduce the incidence of foodborne diseases. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s “Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction” report, approximately one-third of all food produced worldwide is either lost or wasted. By managing food supplies safely and efficiently, food spoilage and waste can be significantly reduced, ensuring more food reaches consumers in a safe condition. Moreover, reducing food loss and waste is essential to fight hunger, mitigate climate change and promote the sustainable use of resources. It also helps companies comply with regional regulations and enhances their reputation. By integrating food waste reduction programs into their operations, businesses can achieve significant cost savings. Additionally, well-aligned waste reduction programs can enhance the efficiency of waste disposal management.

Within our ESG Scores and data, underpinned by the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), we assess companies’ efforts toward food loss and waste reduction.

The CSA is an annual evaluation of sustainability practices covering about 14,000 companies worldwide. In this review, we analyze 2,771 public companies’ disclosures of their food loss and waste commitments across three industries as part of the 2024 research cycle.

Figure 1 illustrates the upward trend in companies reducing food waste and loss across three sectors. Between 2022 and 2024, the number of businesses with at least one commitment and associated programs to mitigate food waste grew by 6 percentage points, from 12% to 18%. This trend might be attributed to increasing regulatory pressure and heightened awareness of this issue among clients. Among the total number of companies with programs to address food spoilage, more than half belong to the consumer staples sector. This is understandable given the sector’s significant involvement in food and beverage production. Conversely, the industrials sector exhibits the lowest share of commitments, likely due to lower regulatory pressure and less client focus on this issue.

Figure 2 shows that 28% of the companies assessed in 2024 had at least one program geared toward creating a more efficient food value chain and waste-free future. A total of 9% of companies implemented strategies to repurpose food waste to reduce waste generation, making this the predominant approach. Alongside this, 8% of companies had programs to reduce the total volume of food waste, while 4% established time-bound targets to minimize total waste. Only 2% of companies measured food loss and waste using specific methods, likely due to the cost associated with quantifying waste according to Water For Injection standards. Companies that break down quantitative information on their waste, whether by food category or life-cycle stage, encounter similar difficulties in balancing accuracy and completeness with the cost of conducting the quantification.

Although there is a growing trend in the number of companies actively mitigating food waste, over 80% of companies have yet to address the challenge of achieving a zero food waste future. It is likely that the regulatory pressure on food waste frameworks will increase, raising companies’ requirements and responsibilities. Developing alternative uses for food waste will most likely remain the most common strategy to reduce waste. Additionally, companies innovating across different processes along the value chain will create shared responsibilities, for which collaboration up- and downstream will be strategic. For these companies, applying detailed analysis of food loss and waste volumes by food category and/or life-cycle stage will be essential to develop efficient, innovative processes that reduce businesses’ ecological impact.