Canada wastes an estimated $31 billion worth of food annually in a loss that stretches from farmgate to consumer tables.
The figure, updated in mid-December 2014, is 15 percent more than estimated in 2010 by Value Chain Management International, an organization dedicated to improving business profitability and competitiveness.
The boost in numbers isn’t due to an increase in waste, but rather to availability of food waste figures relating to international hospitality, such as airlines and cruise ships, as well as institutions including hospitals, schools and prisons.
New figures also include analysis of seafood waste.
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“Back in 2010, some of the information had not been available,” said Caroline Glasbey, VCMI’s senior director, operations and communications.
“It’s not saying (waste) has increased in the last four years by that amount, or that four years ago it was that much less. It’s just that it hadn’t been quantified.”
The report defines waste as the loss of food along the value chain that is suitable for human consumption, or will be fit for consumption after processing.
Another term it uses is terminal waste, which is the foodstuffs intended for human consumption that go into landfills, compost, biodigestion or animal feed.
VCMI chief executive officer Martin Gooch said small losses along each step of the food chain often go unnoticed but they add up to a tremendous amount of food and economic loss.
“It costs us all. It costs everyone money. It generally occurs in small amounts and so we don’t notice it,” said Gooch in a Jan. 29 interview.
“We as individuals would not throw $100 into the bin a month, or a week, depending on the size of the family … but that’s exactly what we do with food waste. And we also pay for it through taxes, as well as higher prices.”
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the value of wasted food represents only 29 percent of the true cost.
True costs would include such things as inventory, labour, repackaging, energy, disposal fees, transport and equipment wear and tear, among other factors.
If that is an accurate estimate, it would mean Canada’s $31 billion in food waste translates into $107 billion in true costs.
The report said businesses could reduce their operating costs by 15 to 20 percent and increase profitability by five to 11 percent by reducing food waste.
“How many items must a retailer, manufacturer, distributor, or farmer sell to cover the costs borne from each item wasted or lost,” asks the report.
“To our surprise, this is a question that businesses typically cannot answer.”
At the farmer level, Gooch said concentrating more on quality than quantity could reduce waste.
“We commonly see that producers focus too much on volume versus how to capture value by producing perhaps a lower volume of higher value products.”
The full report can be found at: bit.ly/1yQyh6Z
- The cost of hospital food waste is estimated at more than $1.50 per patient per day. In 2010 there were 91,813 hospital beds in Canada. At 90 percent occupancy, annual value of food wasted in Canadian hospitals would have been $45 million.
- The daily food budget for prisons is about $12.50/person. The number of people in Canada’s correctional system on any given day in 2010-11 was 163,000. Assuming 50 cents worth of avoidable food waste per person per day, annual cost would be almost $30 million.
- Using 1 kg/person per day as a benchmark and seven days as the average duration, cruise ships create an estimated 133,000 tonnes of food waste per year.
- Retail food stores throw out 5-6% of produce, 3-4% of meat and 2-3.5% of seafood.
