There is a range of issues that contribute to food waste in the food chain. Due to strict commercial standards, up to 25% of food grown may not be harvested because of cosmetic imperfections. Demand seasons and growing seasons don’t always correspond which can lead to perishable product going to waste and ending up in compost or landfills.  A percentage of food is damaged in transport.

Cold Chain Logistics can be tricky and when not executed correctly temperature abuse occurs. Despite advanced in food and beverage packaging crushing and tearing can and do occur.  At the time of receipt at the processing facilities, additional food is slotted for disposal after inspection.

Scrap often occurs within the processing facility. Some of this is attributable to natural variations of the raw material such as cutting and trimming within protein processing. Product changeovers and startups induce loss as piping is cleared via CIP, etc and equipment is primed.  Packaging anomalies induce rejects including problems with labels, caps, glass breakage, seals, etc. Once packaged the product may sit waiting for order fulfillment which then creates problems with product expirations.

At Adroit we can work with you to put together value stream and material flow maps to identify sources and costs associated with food waste.  With that information on hand, we can review and justify potential changes to material handling, processing equipment, etc.