Frozen Food producer Iglo Group has launched Forever Food Together, a European wide sustainability initiative aimed at tackling food waste. The company will highlight the key role that freezing and frozen food can play as a way of both preserving more food and reducing food waste.
Currently, one third of all food produced and manufactured globally is lost or wasted every year, with 42% of food waste in the home, according to information provided by the company. This is why, eating more frozen food at home has the potential to almost halve this, according to independent research conducted by Sheffield Hallam University and published in the British Food Journal in July this year.
Through Forever Food Together, Iglo Group is the first company to champion the virtues of freezing and frozen food in the battle against food waste and is pledging to build a coalition to help deliver this message to shoppers across Europe.
The company has committed that by 2020, 100% of product innovation will provide healthier meal choices and that all Iglo Group’s food is responsibly sourced and prepared.
Recently, Iglo Group brought together a panel of UK and European policy experts at the Shard in London, as part of the Forever Food Together launch, to discuss whether behavioral change or targets are the best way to reduce food waste.
The panel included Baroness Scott of Needham Market, Dr Liz Goodwin – CEO of WRAP, Wayne Martindale – Author, Global Food security and Supply; Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University and Lawrence Hene – Director of Marketing and Grocery Retail at Ocado.
As part of this panel debate, Iglo Group made a number of policy suggestions:
As fruit and vegetables are one of the most wasted good types, should consumers be asked to make at least one of their ‘five a day’ frozen?Buy One – Freeze One sales promotions to replace Buy One Get One Free.Retailers and manufacturers to select a group of high volume, iconic products to progress towards 100% resource utilization – from source to plate. This will help progress towards the European Commission’s target of cutting food waste throughout the supply chain by 30% by the year 2025.EU and member state governments should undertake more research into understanding:The ability of each food supply chain to maximize its resources based on the method of food preservationHow the greater use of Freezing and Frozen Food in the household can further reduce food wasteA more consistent methodology in measuring food waste
Elio Leoni Sceti – Chief Executive of Iglo Group, said: “Currently one third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. Food waste has become more than just a practical consideration in terms of feeding a growing population. It has become a moral one.”