Here at Asda our vision

is zero waste. We view

waste as a resource
and reuse, recycle,
redistribute or recover
as much as possible.
Focus on food waste
At Asda, doing business the right way is hugely
important to us. We don’t believe in wasting
things, especially great tasting food. We want
to focus on putting quality food on your family’s
plate, and not in the bin.

More importantly, we try to avoid creating food

waste in the first place. We’re signed up to
WRAP’s Courthauld Commitment – an agreement
aiming to improve efficiency and reduce waste
within our sector.

As of 2014, none of our stores send food to landfill.

We always try to reduce the amount of food waste
from our stores as much as we can and donate This booklet outlines just a few of the many activities
surplus stock to charity. Any waste is sent to be and initiatives we have in place to reduce food waste
made into pet food or is converted into energy at and ensure as much food as possible ends up where
an anaerobic digestion plant. it’s meant to – on your plate!

We’re also helping suppliers and customers to cut Chris Brown

down on waste and save some pennies in the process. Senior Director, Sustainable Business
 Wrong products
delivered
Why is there food waste
in the first place? Poor
packaging
We hate waste of any kind and
we’re working hard to reduce
food waste. But sometimes it does Variations
occur. From left over seasonal in weather
lines due to a sudden change in
the weather, to poor packaging
‘Overs’
and deliveries of surplus stock, supplied
there are all kinds of things that
can result in potential food waste.
Seasonal lines
no longer relevant
The importance of
reducing food waste
We’re aware of the problem of food waste and
we’ve taken steps to tackle it. The retail industry
as a whole is responsible for almost 400,000
tonnes of food waste, while food manufacturing
is responsible for 3.9 million tonnes.

Retail
0.4Mt

3.9Mt

Manufacturing
The arguments for reducing food waste are
powerful and compelling:

33% of the UK population suffers multiple

– 
deprivation
– Approximately 4 million adults and children
are not properly fed by today’s standards
– 5
 00,000+ children (4%) live in families
who cannot afford to feed them properly*

And with finite resources and a growing

population, the problem is only going to get worse.

FACT

3.3 billion tonnes of CO2:

If food waste were a country, it would
appear third in a ranking of CO2 emitters.**
*‘The Impoverishment of the UK’, Poverty and Social Exclusion, 2013
**United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2013
Industry commitments
Asda, along with others in the industry, is working
hard to reduce all waste (including food waste)
by 1.1 million tonnes by 2015. We’ve signed up to
a number of industry standards and initiatives to
keep us on track and demonstrate our commitment.

ECR
Run by IGD in the UK, Efficient Consumer Response
(ECR) is where industry comes together to develop
initiatives to tackle the biggest issues affecting the
food and grocery supply chain, including food waste.
We’re an active member of the board – our Vice
President of Supply Chain and eCommerce is
currently the co-chair of ECR UK Board and ECR
Europe supply chain committee.
Courtauld
The Courtauld Commitment is a voluntary
agreement aimed at improving resource efficiency
and reducing waste within the UK grocery sector.
Coordinated by WRAP, it supports the UK
government’s policy goal of a ‘zero waste economy’
and climate change objectives to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. We’ve already completed Courtauld
Commitments 1 and 2; we’re currently working
towards Courtauld Commitment 3.

Courtauld 3, Target 1: Improve packaging design

to maximise recycled content, improve recyclability
and deliver protection to reduce food waste with no
increase in the carbon by end 2015 (versus 2012).

Courtauld 3, Target 2: Reduce household food

and drink waste by 5% by end 2015 (versus 2012).

Courtauld 3, Target 3: Reduce grocery ingredient,

product and packaging waste by 3% by end 2015
(versus 2012).
 Asda’s approach In-store Working with Working with
Our 20,000-strong Everyday activities suppliers partners
Experts panel is the largest
consumer panel on sustainability
issues in Europe. They’ve told
us that they care about food
poverty… and so do we.
We’re working across all levels
of our business – from the MEASURE SET TARGETS EMBED
supply chain, to our colleagues
and customers – to raise
awareness of food waste and We take time to measure the issue (how much
food is being wasted and where); set targets to
establish initiatives to reduce it. reduce this; and embed the initiatives needed
to bring about this change.
In-store
Our overriding priority is to prevent food waste from Date codes:
occurring in the first place, and in-store we always try We’re continuing to bring in clearer labelling to avoid
to sell all the food that we have ordered. Here are just confusion both in-store and at home and ensure as
a few of the initiatives we’ve introduced to make sure much of our produce is sold and eaten as possible.
we reduce food waste wherever possible.
Improving packaging:
We’re reviewing packaging across our product lines
to make sure it protects food and keeps it fresh.

Whoops:
To maximise selling time we reduce produce on
the day of ‘use by’. This makes sure that as much
food as possible is sold and not wasted. We like
to call it ‘whoops’.

The Date Team:

We have a specially trained group that review dates,
products and how things are selling in each store.
From this, we can calculate the right stock for the
right place at the right time.
 Weather watch
Some foods sell better in
certain weather conditions.
Ice cream when it’s hot is an
obvious one, but we also know
that fewer sandwiches sell
when it rains. So, we adjust our
stock orders depending on the
forecast… a full time job with
the Great British weather!
Working with suppliers Food waste conference: We were the first major
retailer in the industry to hold a dedicated food
waste conference for our suppliers.
It’s not just Asda’s internal operations that we
consider in terms of tackling food waste. We also Asda Sustain & Save Exchange: Specially devised
support our suppliers to reduce the causes of food to create waste, resource and efficiency savings for
waste during their processes. our supply chain, Asda Sustain & Save Exchange
(SSE) is helping us to build a world-class supplier
base that sets the standard in terms of sustainability.

IGD walkthroughs: On our ‘farm to fork’

walkthroughs we visit every point on the chain,
from farm production, through processing and
manufacture (where applicable), packaging,
transportation and delivery. At every stage we
determine where food is wasted and where
improvements could be made. We then work
with suppliers to make changes and increase
their efficiency.

‘farm to fork’
More than meats the eye We love wonky veg
In 2013 we changed the packs Ugly, funny shaped carrots – there’s
of all our ‘Chosen By You’ and nothing wrong with them but
‘Butcher’s Selection’ meat to brand customers don’t always want to
new ‘skin’ packaging. This not only buy them. We won’t see them go to
reduces the amount of packaging waste though. We take these wonky
needed, it also doubles the meat’s carrots and chop them, grate them
shelf life… this means that we get and mash them into our other
longer to sell it, and our customers products. So, not good looking in
get longer to enjoy it. the veg world? Not a problem.
Working with partners Love Food, Hate Waste
We know that reducing food waste can save the
average family around £60 every month, so it’s an
We work with carefully selected partners to raise
important issue. Our Love Food, Hate Waste
awareness of food waste and redistribute perfectly
campaigns include in-store demonstrations and tips
good food to those who need it most. Here are just
and recipes for leftovers both online and in our
a couple of the initiatives we’re working on:
Asda magazine. With all of our activities we manage
to reach over 10 million customers every year.
Putting good food to good use with FareShare
At Asda we are committed to Every Day Low Prices FareShare statistics
and our supply chain is designed to drive down costs.
In an ideal world, when stock arrives at an Asda
distribution centre it is exactly what we’ve ordered. But
sometimes this isn’t the case. Suppliers send ‘overs’ or
stock that we haven’t ordered – even a couple of extra
cases of food here and there can quickly add up to FareShare
thousands of surplus cases each week. depots
receive food from Asda
This food is in date and fit for human consumption suppliers have opted in
to the FareShare scheme
but risks being disposed of as food waste. As the
supplier still owns this surplus stock, we are obliged
to return it to them – but this is complicated, takes
time, costs money and results in more road miles.

That’s why, in June 2013, we forged an innovative

partnership with our suppliers and FareShare to
redistribute surplus food to UK charities and charities
community projects. As the largest partnership
meals provided at charities
project of its kind in the UK grocery sector, we are for people need them most
currently delivering enough food to make over two receive food from
million meals at over 1,600 charities every week. FareShare thanks to the
partnership with Asda
Food for thought More information
This has been a taste of what we, at Asda, There’s lots of information out there to help
are doing to reduce food waste. you reduce food waste. We’ve put together
some useful links to get you started…
Working together, and with a common goal, we can
eradicate the problem of food waste. Our industry Department of Environment
is filled with the expertise, passion and commitment goo.gl/YYMBVT
needed to achieve this, and it’s good for customers FareShare
and for suppliers. It won’t happen overnight, but it www.fareshare.org.uk
can happen – together we can make the difference. Food Standards Agency
www.food.gov.uk
IGD
www.igd.com/wasteprevention
Love Food Hate Waste
www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
Recycle Now
www.recyclenow.com
The Food Waste Network
www.foodwastenetwork.org.uk
WRAP
www.wrap.org.uk
Get in touch
For more information about
our food waste practices,
please get in touch.

E: [email protected]
T: @AsdaSustainability