How can software reduce food waste?

It is undoubtedly a fact that at present the United Kingdom is a land of plenty. Here, educational and professional opportunities are many. There are no restrictions concerning water use - aside from a few sparsely enforced hosepipe bans - and perhaps most tellingly, fresh food from all over the globe can be bought cheaply in every town, city, and village. 

Regrettably, with this unprecedented abundance has come nationwide wastefulness. Clothing is made to last a season at most, kitchens are fitted just to be ripped out when new homeowners arrive, and households buy food in such vast quantities that approximately one-fifth of it is discarded. The astonishing amount of negligence shown by modern-day society is largely attributable to the current model of consumption, which is linear, wasteful, and inherently unsustainable. This is no more obviously demonstrated then in our consumption of food where replacing nearly always trumps repurposing. Afterall what does it matter if a few bananas rot, when you can buy a fresh bunch for 50 pence or less? 

Food waste – defined as occurring when an edible item goes unconsumed - has been steadily increasing over previous decades due to the linear model of consumption, the mechanisation of farming, and globalisation of food supply chains. These individual processes when combined have resulted in a society which views food as an easily replaceable commodity instead of a precious resource. An understandable notion given that the majority of the UK’s populace have never experienced food shortages. Wartime practices which were once the daily reality of our nation - such as keeping bones to make broth, making marmalade with orange peel, or turning stale bread into breadcrumbs – now belong solely to the domain of self-proclaimed ‘foodies’. Statistics show that most of the public prefer to make use of our nations supermarkets and waste disposal services instead. 

This collapse in frugal household practices over recent decades has been mirrored in both the commercial and industrial sectors as well. Chefs consistently over order to avoid potential dinner time shortages, whilst wonky or blemished fruit and vegetables are discarded by farmers and retailers before they even reach the market. Unsurprisingly this universally inefficient attitude has seen UK food waste numbers skyrocket with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) finding that around 9.5 million tonnes of perfectly edible food was wasted in 2018 alone.

But why should we care? I hear you ask. There isn’t a war on our doorstep, and the prevalence of cheap, fresh food means we’re able to easily replace anything we throw away. You would be right of course, to my knowledge we are not at risk of a national clementine shortage anytime soon. However, whilst the cost of this wastefulness may not be apparent to our cupboards and pockets, it is extremely evident in the two most pertinent issues of our time: climate change and food insecurity.

A study by the food saving software app Too Good To Go found that over two-thirds of British adults aren’t aware that food waste contributes to climate change. This figure is even more staggering when it has been estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations that if food waste were a country, it would be the third highest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China. To put it bluntly if we as a planet stopped wasting food altogether, we’d eliminate 8% of our total emissions. By comparison if we grounded all planes we would wipe out only 2-3%.  

For once the idiosyncratic finger pointing which defines British climate politics, cannot be aimed at the often demonised rapidly developing nations. Instead, it must be squarely set on the mirror as British consumer dissatisfaction with produce quality (in other words pickiness) has led to a much higher percentage of total post-harvest losses occurring in Northern America and Europe when compared with Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the former's far superior infrastructure which should reduce waste through processes such as spoiling. Therefore, food waste remains very much our issue, especially as WRAP estimates that UK food waste is associated with greenhouse gas emissions of over 20 million tonnes annually. 

We have been hammered by adverts depicting almost exclusively African, malnourished children with such regularity, that many expressed hostile disbelief when Marcus Rashford suggested food poverty continues to define the lives of many British families. Recent findings by The Food Foundation support Mr Rashford’s declaration, with new data revealing that 14% of British adults living with children reported experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity during the previous 6 months. Four million people including 2.3 million children live in these households. These statistics may baffle many who see the mountains of food which cause our supermarket aisles to groan. How can this 14% suffer from food insecurity when there is clearly such an abundance? Key to addressing this question is the dismantling of a widespread misconception concerning the cause of food insecurity. As Amartya Sen so insightfully stated:

‘Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat’.

Thus, in Britain it is the poor distribution of food, where the majority have a surplus and the few have a deficit which causes food insecurity. Unfortunately, there have long been numerous barriers to redistributing excess food at household, hospitality, and production levels despite its ability to reduce both food waste and food insecurity. Historically, matching spare food with in-need communities was one such issue, as producers and hospitality services often lacked the contacts required to locate beneficiaries within a short time frame. Fortunately, the hyper connectivity of current times - propelled by widespread smartphone ownership - has allowed for innovative software solutions to address these issues.

OLIO is a free mobile & web app that connects local households with each other so surplus food can be given away instead of being thrown away. Amidst increased demand for food banks during COVID-19, OLIO partnered with N/LAB, a centre of excellence for business analytics at the University of Nottingham, who used machine learning and OLIO’s proprietary data to create the world’s first ‘Food Poverty Map’. This interactive tool used real-time, anonymised data to pinpoint and track areas suffering from food insecurity enabling government bodies to predict, measure and proactively help those who are forced to skip meals. This solved a major problem for councils and local authorities currently fighting food poverty in their area. That being the lack of up-to-date and representative data. As such this project has the potential to transform Britain’s food relief and strategies by identifying key areas for surplus food to be redirected to. 

For the hospitality sector, integrating software solutions can ensure the once laborious process of fighting food waste becomes simple, cost-effective and time efficient. For example, Too Good To Go, an app founded in 2016, provides a safety net for balancing supply and demand. This ensures that if produce has not sold for one reason or another, it can still find a route to market, and be used to recover otherwise sunk costs for businesses. This is made possible by their unique ‘Magic Bag’ approach where businesses, rather than listing individual portions of food, fill a bag with items that haven’t sold, before setting a price that’s fair for themselves and the customer. This prevents excess, un-storable food - such as freshly baked goods - from being thrown away by restaurants, cafes, and supermarkets. 

There is no doubt that tackling food waste at household and commercial levels relies on our ability to share both products and information. Unfortunately, there is a perennial issue facing the sharing economy, that of trust. The concept of trust is inherently connected to our personal relationship with privacy. For example, if you trust someone you may be willing to divulge personal information to them. Whereas if you are highly protective of your privacy, others may view you as distrustful. Us British are notoriously particular about our privacy, however the sharing economy simply cannot work on an anonymous basis, as trust cannot occur if the other remains unidentified and as such, unaccountable. 

Putting faith in complete strangers is a daunting prospect, yet software can manipulate technology to engineer ‘virtual trust’. Much like hygiene ratings validate cleanliness, features such as reviews by other customers can validate trustworthiness. However, it remains undeniable that for software to have an impact in reducing food waste it must also build a faithful client base and a reputable brand as a recent PwC survey found that 69% people would not trust a sharing-economy company unless recommended by someone they personally have faith in. 

Fortunately, due to the professional relationships between hospitality operators and producers, the issues of trust are relatively uncommon at this level. Instead, reducing food waste relies on a change in consumer behaviour regarding produce expectations – which is being driven by wonky produce advocates such as OddBox - as well as efficient ordering being practised by operators. Software assisted stocktaking and ordering can allow operators to understand the flow of their stock better, forecast their needs more accurately, and communicate this knowledge back to their suppliers. Thus, limiting the possibility for supply to outstrip demand. Whilst apps such as Fridgely help kitchen staff to track the freshness of refrigerated foods before sending push notifications to remind them to use items that are expiring soon. It even suggests recipes to make based on those soon to be expired ingredients.

Evidence regarding the effectiveness of food waste reduction software is overwhelmingly positive. In July 2020 Tessa Clarke, cofounder of OLIO estimated that usage of the app had the equivalent of taking over 16 million car miles off the road whilst also saving 850 million litres of water. Whilst Too Good To Go have saved more than 30 million meals from going to waste. Furthermore, implementing software in the hospitality industry has not only been proven to benefit the planet and local society, but also their economic business model. Champions 12.3, a coalition of executives from governments, businesses, international organizations, research institutions, farmer groups, and civil society, found that the average benefit-cost ratio for food waste reduction in hospitality businesses was 7:1 over a three-year time frame. Furthermore, reducing food waste in the household also results in widespread savings, with the average UK family able to save up to ₤400 annually. 

As with all issues related to climate change, food waste is a multifaceted and complicated beast. However, the current boom we are experiencing in software-based solutions is simplifying these issues and highlighting the steps every one of us can take, be it in the household, professional kitchen, or farm to reduce our impact. Thus, enabling us as we continue to strive towards a society and a planet that is bountiful for us all.

EATE is helping combat food waste in the hospitality industry through the development of leafe, an app that keeps track of hygiene and inventory records to maximise efficiency in the kitchen and reduce waste as a result. For more information, visit https://leafeapp.com/ .

Jacob Smith

Jacob is a writer whose focus centres on the ever-evolving relationship between peoples. He has a long-held affinity for food and cooking, a fact chiefly attributable to his mother, Liz. Outside of writing, Jacob is the Social media and Communications Officer for Incomindios UK, the British branch of a Swiss-based indigenous rights organisation and is currently concluding his MA Conflict, Security & Development at the University of Exeter.