With $20 billion of food wasted every year in Australia, the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has partnered with Woolworths and Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) to bring international sustainable food systems expert Mark Barthel to Australia to help develop a solution to the growing problem.
Mark Barthel, who is from the United Kingdom, brings with him a 25 year track record of fighting food waste with brands such as Tesco, Amazon, Walmart, Marks & Spencer and Nestle, and international organisations such as WRAP, the World Economic Forum, United Nations and the FAO.
Mark Barthel said, "It is an exciting time to be working with Woolworths, CRC and FIAL to develop a food waste reduction roadmap.
"Although only 3% of national food waste is attributed to supermarkets, they still have a critical role to play in engaging with their customers about how they can make the most of the food they buy.
"Woolworths is at the forefront of educating customers around minimising food waste via their Food Savers program and they have also made commitments themselves with 100% of their stores now with a food waste diversion program in place.
"I am excited to be working closely with Woolworths to develop a roadmap that will see them engaging with suppliers, customers and community partners to work together to tackle this issue."
In Australia, 7.3 million tonnes of food is wasted each year, according to the recently released Australian National Food Waste Baseline report. Nearly half of this ends up in landfill.
Mark Barthel added, "Preventing food waste entering landfill in Australia would be the equivalent of taking over 1 million cars off the road in terms of its environmental impact.
"There is a huge role for businesses to play in reducing food waste along the supply chain, and in addition to working on a roadmap for Woolworths, I'm also going to be working with FIAL to establish a voluntary agreement program with Australian businesses as part of the National Food Waste Strategy."
FIAL General Manager Mirjana Prica said, "It's fantastic to have Mark here. He has the experience of setting up the UK's Courtauld Commitment that improved resource efficiency and reduced waste within the UK grocery sector. His expertise will help us go a long way to building a roadmap for reducing food waste in the country."
Woolworths Head of Sustainability, Adrian Cullen said, "We're excited to have Mark on board to support our commitment to reducing food waste and helping our partners do the same.
"We look forward to working closely with him so we can continue to improve on our food waste reduction journey to bring real benefit for our customers, farmers, suppliers and community partners."
Fight Food Waste CRC CEO, Dr Steven Lapidge said, "Food is meant to be eaten and I haven't met anyone yet who does not feel guilty about wasting food. So, this is a solvable global challenge, one that all of us here at the Fight Food Waste CRC, Woolworths and FIAL are committed to tackling."
About The Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre
The Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre launched in July 2018, and brings together industry, research and the community to capitalise on Australia's food waste opportunities. Winning this fight will save Australia $20 billion per annum in food waste.
Through its three research and development programs, the Fight Food Waste CRC will REDUCE food waste throughout the supply chain, TRANSFORM unavoidable waste into innovative products, and ENGAGE with industry and consumers to deliver behavioural change.
The Fight Food Waste CRC was funded by the Australian Government's Department of Innovation, Industry and Science as part of the CRC Program that supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community.
