Are we ready to choose loose?

With more pressure on sustainable shopping, food and packaging waste is a hot topic within the fresh produce industry but is the discussion a luxury for those who can afford it? The message needs to change to increase its accessibility, reach a broader audience and ensure we are progressively removing wasteful practices in the food industry where possible. There is a greater demand for convenience items in cosmopolitan areas to reduce time and hassle, but prepped products are traditionally packaged in single-use plastic. Shoppers need encouragement to alter their buying habits to reduce the demand that supermarkets will strive to fill. There is a need for more education on reducing and managing waste via innovative culinary ideas and using our senses – look, smell and taste to determine if it is edible. However, the consumer response to supermarkets reducing packaging is often concerns of hygiene and cost.

Additionally, the messaging around the topic is often what the end user can do to act more sustainably, whereas the priority should be improving the supply chain before this. A proactive commitment is needed from everyone in the fresh produce industry, as there is a massive opportunity for pioneering and positive change. NGO Wrap has set the goal of reducing fruit and vegetable packaging by 30% by 2025. A recent article in the Grocery Gazette noted that this would remove an estimated 1.7 billion pieces of plastic, avoid over 77,000 tonnes of food being wasted, and save shoppers a combined total of over £85 million in uneaten food.

It is time to challenge traditional thinking and open up the political conversation. There is a need for greater transparency in reporting potential waste, as this would highlight areas within the supply chain that produce more waste than others. It could also present a marketplace to purchase items ‘on the way out.'