September 29, 2021 – Today is International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. At Ahold Delhaize, we are working hard with our great local brands to reduce food waste, both within our brands’ own operations and across the supply chain, together with customers and suppliers.
Ahold Delhaize became a founding partner of the World Resources Institute's (WRI) 10x20x30 initiative two years ago. The initiative brings together 10+ global food retailers who have each committed to engaging with 20 of their priority suppliers to halve their rates of food loss and waste by 2030.
Ahold Delhaize brands have so far partnered with fourteen major suppliers to root out food loss and waste in the food supply chain: Arla Foods, Barba Stathis, Cargill, Chobani, Delta, General Mills, Hilton Foods Holland, Hoogesteger, Kellogg’s, La Linea Verde d.o.o., Mars Incorporated, PepsiCo, Vezet and Yuhorhave committed to reduce food waste by 50% in their own operations by 2030. They will measure and publish their food waste inventory and create actionable food waste reduction strategies. In 2022 we will invite more suppliers to this initiative.
Each year, one-third of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted, which amounts to more than one billion tons per year and about 8% of total damaging greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, one in nine people is undernourished. In 2020, Ahold Delhaize brands were able to further reduce tonnes of food waste per million euros of food sales to a total of 4.53 (-17%), compared to 2016.
“Food waste reduction is a key strategic focus for Ahold Delhaize and its brands - and it is the right thing to do to improve our business, our climate, and our food system. It’s heartening to see that the 10x20x30 initiative is resonating across the broader food industry and that retailers and suppliers are committing to concrete actions to reduce food waste,” said Ahold Delhaize Senior Vice President Health & Sustainability Daniella Vega.
For more information on what the Ahold Delhaize great local brands are doing to reduce food waste, go to our website and read the WRI press release here.
