Quorn Foods is committing to halving food waste

Quorn Foods is proud to be committing to the brand new WRAP initiative, aiming to make a significant step towards reducing food waste.

• As a member of WRAP, Quorn Foods is committed to driving down UK’s annual £20 billion food waste bill, equivalent to more than £300 per UK citizen.
• The company, alongside other major retailers and food businesses, is committed to the Target-Measure-Act approach and is to report on food waste by September 2019.
• Quorn Foods is taking a ‘farm to fork’ approach to commit to a ground-breaking Food Waste Reduction Roadmap

Today (25 September 2018), Quorn Foods has committed to a set of ambitious milestones to tackle the UK’s food waste mountain, as part of WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme). The company is extremely proud to be a part of this wide and ground-breaking move as part of its wider sustainability strategy.

The roadmap encompasses the entire supply chain from field to fork, and clearly shows the actions to be taken to address food waste from our own operations, and by working with our suppliers. As part of the WRAP announcement, Quorn Foods will also engage with customers and suppliers to help reduce their food waste.

The Roadmap has the support of the UK’s largest food trade bodies, numerous businesses across the food supply chain, Defra, and the Welsh and Scottish Governments. Widespread adoption of “Target, Measure, Act” is vital to achieve national policy objectives and targets on food waste reduction.

In line with the Target, Measure, Act, Quorn Foods is therefore committed to:

• Target – Setting a food waste reduction target for our UK operations, to reduce food waste across our operations by 50% by 2030.
• Measure – Measuring our progress in a consistent way and sharing our learnings.
• Act – Reducing further our own food waste, working in partnership with suppliers and helping consumers reduce food waste at home.

Quorn Foods strongly supports this initiative as part of its wider sustainability strategy. By 2050, the world population is set to increase to over nine billion, 30% higher than today. In order to feed this larger, more urban population, we not only need to address the pressing issue of food waste, but also to increase the consumption of varied protein sources. We are extremely proud to be taking a different approach to making protein, producing less GHG emissions, as well as using less land and water.

Quorn Foods therefore is making it a priority to lower its carbon footprint, reduce relative water usage amongst our main manufacturing sites and be energy-efficient during our production process. What’s more, in 2015 we achieved zero waste to landfill at our Stokesley site and our Methwold site followed closely, with 99% of waste avoiding landfill. However, our sustainability journey still continues.

Kevin Brennan, the CEO of Quorn Foods, explains: “WRAP and IGD are now mobilising the industry leaders to create a new and brave sector-wide roadmap. It’s an exciting and inspiring move and Quorn Foods is extremely proud to be supporting this initiative. It is vital to clearly identify what our industry has to do in order to achieve this ambitious, yet pressing goal of driving down the amount of food that currently goes to waste”.

For more information please contact quorn@taylorherring.com or 0208 206 5151

Background

• The UK has had policies aimed at reducing food waste in place since 2007 and food waste prevention targets under a series of voluntary agreements managed by WRAP; Courtauld Commitment One, Two and Three and the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement. WRAP reported on progress against each of these and will detail progress against the Roadmap through the current Courtauld Commitment 2025, which builds on previous achievements.
• WRAP is a not for profit organisation founded in 2000 which works with governments, businesses and citizens to create a world in which we source and use resources sustainably. Our impact spans the entire life-cycle of the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the products we buy, from production to consumption and beyond.
• IGD is a research and training charity which sits at the heart of the food and grocery industry. It has a trading subsidiary that provides commercial services. The profits from these commercial services fund the charity. As a charity we exist to upskill people working in or looking to join the food and grocery industry. We also manage initiatives driven by research and best practice relating to science, technology or economics in the food industry.