Did you know that a third of all food produced is wasted across the food system from farm to home? This goes on to create 6% of global GHG emissions, which is three times higher than the amount produced by the aviation industry!
In fact, Project Drawdown rates reducing food waste as one of the key solutions to limiting global warming by two degrees by the end of the century. So, every piece of food waste prevented is a step towards reaching SDG Goal 12.3 of halving all food waste by 2030.
Bread is the second most wasted food in the UK – 44% of all bread is thrown away. That’s one million loaves every day, or 24 million slices! UK born and bred bakery chain, GAIL’s want to do something about it.
During our DTAG Sustainability Breakfast, we were joined by GAIL’s CEO, Tom Molnar, who shared more about GAIL’s mission to eliminate food waste.
Leading the way is GAIL’s ‘Waste Not’ range, which aims to inspire more brands to consider how to tackle this issue and help them with their food waste reduction.
Back in 2018, GAIL’s Head Baker, Roz Bado set about working out how to make a new loaf using left-over bread stock across the GAIL’s estate in an effort to reduce the company’s food waste footprint.
After a year of experimentation, she developed the perfect loaf. This creation, born out of a mixture of breadcrumbs from leftover bread, is so good it’s gone onto win not one but two Great Taste Awards.
This ambition, dedication and craft skills is exactly the kind of recipe for innovation we’ve come to expect from GAIL’s. Ensuring that any left-over sales of their products can be reused as new items is both environmentally and commercially smart. GAIL’s have extended this thinking beyond just their loaves, happily reusing offcuts from a variety of ingredients, from wonky fruit to unloved cheese, bringing a new lease of life to dozens of other recipes!
The team at GAIL’s aren’t stopping there. In their commitment to stamp out food waste, the company ensures that 100% of any remaining surplus goes to local charitable causes, now supporting 95 organisations in their neighbourhoods.
Ensuring food can stay on the shelves longer and is consumed rather than wasted leads to a ‘triple win’:
- Saving money for farmers, producers, brands and households….
- …meaning that food can go further and feed more people…
- …and helps to reduce environmental impacts by reducing pressure on land resources, water usage and climate impacts.
A huge thank you to GAIL’s CEO, Tom Molnar, who joined our DTAG Sustainability & Brands Breakfast in February to talk about all the good GAIL’s does to make our communities better, fairer and more sustainable places to live.