National Food Delivery Business Calls On Industry to Do More To Address Food Wastage
Melbourne, April 21 2015 – In Australia, Food To Go businesses are estimated to throw away 15% of their stock daily according to a member survey from a leading national foodservice association.*
Graeme McCormack, Director of the Food To Go Association (FTGA, formerly the Australian Sandwich Association) says that the issue of food wastage was not just impacting on the bottom line of foodservice businesses, but was also a wider community issue.
“Australian foodservice businesses face tremendous pressure to ensure they always have the right stock on hand to meet customer demands, while also trying to minimise food wastage. From surveying FTGA members it was found that on average 15% of food ordered by any business was being wasted every day. This places huge financial pressures on any business – especially foodservice outlets operating with tight margins,” Mr McCormack said.
Similar research conducted in Britain found that food waste costs individual restaurants an average of $20,000 per year which equated to 23 per cent of the food purchased by those businesses.**
“Importantly for local food business owners, it is not just the cost of how much food is being wasted every day that is the issue, but also where this food ends up and whether it can be put to better use in the community,” said Mr McCormack.
One Australian foodservice business that has been committed to putting food wastage to better use for the past 20 years is Tasty Fresh Food Co. During these two decades Tasty Fresh Food Co has donated over 18 million dollars in stock, which has helped feed needy people through the Vinnies Soup Van program.
As Australia’s premier lunch van service, Tasty Fresh Food Co sells a range of hot and cold food to building site, factory and office workers. In Victoria, they operate 78 vans visiting up to 60 sites. Every weekday any leftover pre-packaged food is distributed to multiple Vinnies Fitzroy Soup Vans to feed the homeless and marginalised in inner city Melbourne.
“Food wastage is an unfortunate fact of life for any food service business in Australia. While many business rightly focus on what can be done to minimise wastage, thought must also be given to how excess stock can help the community. Too many foodservice businesses in Australia are still throwing away perfectly good food that could go to needy people, when there are organisations that can help distribute goods to these people while also creating a giving program that creates greater employee engagement and positive profile raising in the community,” said Colin Lear, Founder and CEO of Tasty Fresh Food Co.
A key strategic partner and supporter of the Vinnies Soup Van program, Tasty Fresh Food Co donates an average of 4 million dollars of food annually, 16% of their annual stock, to help feed people in need.
*FTGA membership consists of over twenty of the largest convenience food operators in Australia
**http://www.foodservicenews.com.au/news/restaurants-needed-for-critical-food-waste-research