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How manufacturers can reduce food loss in factory operations

Small factory inefficiencies can send valuable ingredients down the drain, resulting in losses and prompting the sector to audit its waste-reduction methods. What solutions exist?

Everyday food and drink production involves hidden losses. During the manufacturing process, producers carry out product changeovers, cleaning, and various processing steps to minimise downtime and ensure their factories meet production targets.

At a glance:

• Manufacturers can reduce product losses by optimising processes, maintaining equipment and improving operations.
• Using AI and technology can help manufacturers forecast demand, optimise processes and reduce waste with more control.
• European Union (EU) rules require manufacturers to cut waste by 2030, pushing for better tracking and prevention efforts.

Optimising process controls and manufacturing operations could help producers recover food and drink products; reduce resource use, including energy, equipment wear and tear, and labour; and lower waste.

Hidden losses in food and drink manufacturing

Losses can occur at many different stages in production: a valve in production equipment that switches 30 seconds late when a product line changes from one batch to another can disrupt production efficiency. A cleaning rinse that runs longer than is necessary can also slow down the process. A production batch cut off early to protect quality, accompanied by an unnecessarily cautious safety margin, can limit how much of an ingredient goes into the end product and increases resource use.

Operational occurrences like these that lead to loss often appear insignificant in terms of time and severity, yet their impact on product loss is considerable. “Each sends a few hundred litres to the drain,” Jani Puroranta, CEO of Finnish sensor and analytics company Collo, told Ingredients Network.

Optimising processes to minimise waste

Manufacturers can tackle product losses by optimising the processes governing how ingredients move through the factory. They can integrate various measures into their factory operations to minimise waste.

Audits can reveal gaps in waste reduction methods. Manufacturers can explore how modifying processing steps to optimise production lines, maintaining equipment and implementing more efficient washing cycles can prevent avoidable losses while retaining safety, hygiene and product quality.

Adjusting valve timings and changeover procedures, for instance, can lower the amount of product left in pipes between batches. In addition, manufacturers can review batch-end cutoff points and introduce appropriate product recovery steps to retain more of the process’s ingredients before the cleaning stage starts.

Cleaning-in-place (CIP) cycles can help lower both product and financial losses. Reviewing rinse durations, flow rates and cleaning sequences can help manufacturers use fewer resources, including water and energy. This can also lower the amount of residual product flushed into wastewater.

As well as minimising environmental impact, targeted interventions across factory production lines can help recover financial losses incurred during production.

The role of AI and tech in waste reduction

Improving demand forecasting, measuring ingredient weight when produce enters the factory and analysing waste sources can also help manufacturers identify potential losses.

According to market intelligence company Mintel, technology will increasingly help manufacturers develop their food waste reduction methods. Operators are using artificial intelligence (AI) in particular to combat food waste.

Mintel data shows, for instance, that 42% of German food and drink players are using or are interested in using generative AI. This technology can be implemented into production processes to support reformulation, process flows, demand forecasting and scheduling, and predictive maintenance.

Meeting EU food waste targets

Preventing excess product and waste in the manufacturing process is a core strategy food and drink producers need to adopt, particularly as a binding target in Europe formalises and accelerates the sector’s efforts to reduce food loss. Introduced in October 2025 under the new Waste Framework Directive, the target requires processors and manufacturers to cut their food waste by 10% by 2030.

Efforts to reduce food waste have come under the spotlight as new data from Eurostat, the EU statistics office, show that food waste reached around 58 million tonnes, equating to 129kg per person in its latest 2024 figures. This sits alongside EU data that shows food waste costs over €130 billion annually.

The European Commission will monitor progress in reducing food waste by conducting a review by 2027 to improve understanding of food loss and waste in production.

The need for accurate food measurement

However, Collo analysed Eurostat’s latest figures and found between 1.4 and 4.6 million tonnes of unaccounted-for waste occurs in the food and drink sector every year. This equates to an additional 13% to 42% of waste beyond what the EU counts and reports, suggesting that measurement – namely ensuring it is accurately accounted for – is a vital factor in reducing waste, specifically wastewater.

“Spoilage and quality rejects are already kept to a minimum in every plant I know,” Puroranta said. In one European dairy company that handles 245 million litres of milk, Collo’s research found its losses amounted to up to 5 million litres per year. The loss occurred with no alarm sounding on the factory floor and the monthly figures failed to indicate any problems.

New food waste reporting measures on the horizon?

Collo’s findings may prompt the industry to push for new or revised measures to help European member states meet binding 2030 food waste reduction targets. However, the Commission indicates the latest data on food loss does not reveal a glaring increase in production waste.

“The latest data for 2024 reported by the member states show that food waste generation at EU level remains relatively stable,” a European Commission official told Ingredients Network. The data showed a year-on-year increase of less than 1%, which is within the measurement and reporting error margin.