Tesco CEO calls on retailers and governments to reduce food waste

Tesco CEO Dave Lewis said that companies and governments should take advantage of the opportunity the global pandemic has provided to tackle food waste as focus on global supplies increases.

Lewis suggested that companies should regularly report on the food waste in their business and supply chain and take actions to meet the UN’s sustainable development goals, established five years ago, which aim to halve food waste by 2030.

Lewis wrote in the Guardian on Thursday: “Covid-19 has brought this issue into sharp focus in every country around the world. Governments are thinking about how to make supply chains more resilient and consumers are rethinking the value of food.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle food waste and, in doing so, help to change the course of the global climate emergency. Companies and countries talk about building back better. Now is the time to put that into action.”

The CEO is part of a coalition of companies (known as the 12.3) that have pledged to support the implementation of the UN target. The coalition includes leaders from large companies such as Kellogg’s, Unilever and Nestlé.

They also advocate for the redistribution of the excess food to those in need, but their main concern is that governments and companies should include food loss and waste reduction in their national commitments.

The coalition will be meeting at its annual summit on Thursday.

Food waste also contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. It currently generates 8% of the total greenhouse emissions in the world.

Tesco has reduced its food waste by 45,000 tonnes globally since it first began publishing the relevant data in 2013, revealed figures published on Thursday.