Waitrose & Worldwide Fruit: whole chain food waste reduction

'In collaboration with one of our apple suppliers, Worldwide Fruit (WFL), Waitrose carried out a whole chain analysis of 3 popular apple varieties; Braeburn Gala and Jazz. The aim of the project was to identify waste ‘hotspots’, the root causes of waste, and to trial solutions to reduce food surplus and waste adopting an ‘end to end’ approach.'

Rebecca Hesketh, Agriculture Manager, Fresh Produce, Waitrose & Partners:
“In capturing and analysing food waste data in our apple supply chain we’ve found that whilst waste is relatively low in apple primary production (growing and harvesting) there are opportunities to increase the donation of perfectly ‘good to eat’, apples to surplus food redistribution charities. It is vital that we minimise
on farm food waste and ensure that surplus food is diverted to those who need it most.”