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Dutch initiative to reduce supermarket waste claims ongoing success

Food waste in Dutch supermarkets continued to fall, registering a total reduction of 35% since monitoring was introduced by the Food Waste Free United Foundation and the Wageningen University & Research in 2018.

According to the latest annual report, supermarkets self-reported that food waste was reduced by a further 0.9% in procurement volume during 2023, showing that although larger reductions were made in previous years, improvements are still being made thanks to the Netherlands government-backed initiative.

Ingredients Network spoke to Martijntje Vollebregt, researcher on sustainable food processing at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), to find out more about the strategies supermarkets have been developing to make the improvements.

Discounting products close to their sell-by date

Vollebregt pointed out that one of the most successful measures has been to pre-empt the sell-by dates of perishable products by discounting them, instead of simply taking them off the shelf once the sell-by date is reached.

“The supermarkets have different ways to still offer these products to customers, it can be the regular shelf, or a special food waste cabinet and/or grouped into a bag, with a sales tag such as ‘Too Good To Go’. In the Netherlands, reduced pricing is actively applied for products with a short shelf life, and on bread,” Vollebregt said.

“This requires a strategic decision by supermarkets, necessitating a modified way of working in the supermarket outlets, infrastructure, communication on supermarkets magazine, etc. Of course, this also requires active shelf management in the outlets. Furthermore, supermarkets invest in new data tools to improve the match between forecast and sales.”

Supply chain efficiencies and shelf-life extension can also make the difference

Making improvements to the supply chain can also make a significant difference. Enhanced supply chain efficiencies can reduce the delivery times between the manufacturer and products arriving on store shelves, a particular boon for perishable goods.

Vollebregt explained that while short transportation times and adequate storage conditions are important factors in successful supply chain and in-store management, innovations in shelf-life extensions are equally as important, as they can also contribute to waste reduction.

AI technology is another innovation coming into play and assisting supermarkets in becoming more efficient. Marc Jansen, general director of the Dutch Food Retail Association, points to how AI is being used to improve the match between supply and demand, which is also spelling opportunities for upcycling food, like pasta sauce from leftover tomatoes.

While supermarket-led initiatives do require a significant investment of time and resources by the retailers, Vollebregt also explained that these strategies are easily transferable and could be adopted by supermarket chains in most parts of the world.

The aims of the programme in the future

Moving forward, the activities of the Food Waste Free United Foundation are designed to continue to help cut back on supermarket food waste as much as possible in the future.

“Our activities will continue over the coming years, aiming to contribute to significant food waste reduction,” said Vollebregt. “The Foundation’s activities include monitoring of food waste - including an update with the Dutch retailers in the coming years, stimulating solutions for businesses, reduction of food waste in households, and obtaining insights into which factors in legislation and agreements hamper food waste reduction.”

While Vollebregt pointed to cooperation on supply chain efficiencies between both suppliers and supermarkets becoming increasingly important in the future, she added that successfully tackling the problem of food waste is a multifaceted issue with many dimensions and a wide spectrum of solutions.

“Food waste comes with a multidimensional footprint that includes both the economy and the environment. Taking this into account, food waste reduction for products with a large environmental impact is of extra relevance,” Vollebregt said.