The National Food Waste Summit on 24-25 July is the best opportunity to hear from leading specialists and researchers in the food supply chain to stay up to date with the latest innovations and technologies to reduce food waste and its related social and environmental impacts.
End Food Waste Australia (EFWA) is facilitating technological solutions through numerous initiatives in our R&D team. These innovations aim to tackle food waste at every stage of the supply chain while empowering consumers to make informed choices and reducing environmental impact.
Researchers, innovators and changemakers are active in this space, and the End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre is proud to support projects moving the dial on food waste reduction.
Gander Retail Waste Saving Program and the Y Waste App exemplify how technology can bridge the gap between surplus food and consumers. These smart phone-based apps place food waste action in people’s hands by alerting shoppers to discounted products nearing expiration and connecting quick-service restaurants with people in food poverty to collect surplus food.
These apps not only aim to prevent waste but also provide economic benefits for both retailers, restaurants and consumers. EFWA’s R&D team is evaluating the effectiveness of innovations by Gander and YWaste to help
Meanwhile, improvements in supply chain monitoring and optimisation of packaging and processing machinery contribute to reducing waste throughout the production and distribution process.
Tetra Pak (summit Gold Sponsor) is leading technological innovations in the packaging and processing sectors. Working across various food and beverage categories including dairy, cheese, ice cream, food, pet food and juice, their work helps to preserve the quality of food through increasing shelf-life, minimising environmental impact and increasing access to safe and nutritious food.
Circularity is at the forefront of their sustainability plan, developing circular food systems to prevent food waste and reducing the environmental impact, and their goal of working to enable the transition to secure, sustainable and resilient food systems through their actions, products and solutions.
Tetra Pak’s managing director of Oceania, Boris Munster, will be presenting at the summit, sharing latest learnings and insights from their global food waste initiatives.
Other development opportunities and research projects EFWA have worked on include the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA) project to identify and grow best practice in reducing food waste though Australian packaging and processing machinery companies.
The development of the online Dynamic Industry Resource Efficiency Calculation Tool (DIRECT) by RMIT and Plenty Food Group, will help businesses across the entire food supply chain understand the true cost of waste, including how to conduct resource efficiency assessments, identify and calculate resource efficiency, and understand the business value of improving resource efficiency.
At the summit, we will also hear from data and AI technology leader, Dr Ian Oppermann, on the impact that robotics, automation, and AI will have on the food industry and the food waste action.
Book your ticket now to gain exclusive access to your insight into the future of food. Visit the National Food Waste Summit Website Now to get $200 off your ticket, with the code ‘NFWSEOFY’.
Associate Professor Simon Lockrey, is the REDUCE Program lead at End Food Waste Australia.
