Unilever and Kraft Heinz are among eight companies operating in Canada to pledge to cut food waste in their operations in half.
Canada-based meat company Maple Leaf Foods also features in the list of businesses to sign up to the commitment, which has a deadline of 2025.
Retailers Loblaw, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart and Save-On-Foods are also signatories.
All businesses will report on their progress annually, two organisations, the National Zero Waste Council and Provision Coalition, which will work with the companies, said in a joint statement.
Sobeys said the target was “aggressive” and outlined some steps it was taking to meet the pledge.
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“We’re improving production planning and education to closely monitor what gets thrown out at store level; redirecting surplus food to charities and food banks across the country; and repurposing food that isn’t appropriate for human consumption into livestock feed or compost,” the retailer told just-food.
A spokesperson for US retail giant Walmart, which has more than 400 stores in Canada, said: “Reducing food waste is a key priority for us and last year we announced our commitment to achieve zero food waste in our Canadian operations by 2025.”
Kraft Heinz confirmed it had signed up to the commitment but declined to comment further. Unilever had been contacted for comment but had not replied at the time of writing.
Malcolm Brodie, chair of the National Zero Waste Council, said the issue of food waste could be better tackled through collaborative moves. “Food loss and waste present social, environment and economic challenges for communities, governments and businesses across the country. These challenges demand bold, collaborative
action. Though many food waste reduction activities are already underway, they are mostly happening in isolation from each other. We can achieve far greater success through collaboration and a unified vision for change such as that being demonstrated today by Canada’s leading retailers and manufacturers.”
