On 10th June, Aliya Kumekbayeva, Sustainability Officer at The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), participated in a webinar hosted by emerging technology research platform, SPEEDA Edge, on the topic of food waste. Aliya was invited to join the panel to share the work of The Consumer Goods Forum’s Coalition of Action on Food Waste, and her insights into the solutions to solve the issue of food loss and waste.

Aliya was joined in the discussion by Dr. Jon Deutsch of Drexel University food lab and the Upcycled Food Foundation, as well as Aqila Ali from SPEEDA Edge. Aliya presented first, sharing the work of the Coalition, including its work to implement measurement and harmonised reporting, and support the World Resources Institute on the scale up of their 10x20x30 initiative. She also spoke about the Coalition’s work on post-harvest losses, as they engage with suppliers in contractual arrangements that promote sale of all edible produce and reduce on-farm losses, as discussed in the report ‘Contractual Terms for Reducing Food Waste’, published by the CGF in 2020.

Dr. Jon Deutsch then discussed his original market research on upcycled food and his novel approach to food waste reduction as well as a few examples of upcycled food production that he’s participated in followed by information about upcycling labeling. Aqila Ali then presented her research on food waste technology reduction. This included a breakdown of the food waste tech potential and current actual market size and a discussion of leading companies in the following market segments: Waste prevention technologies, redistribution, upcycling, and recycling.

Finally, the audience were able to ask the panelists questions addressing food waste reduction at the manufacturing, food service, and individual household levels.

For more details on the CGF’s work to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 and halve food loss per capita worldwide, visit www.tcgffoodwaste.com.