The Courtauld Commitment 2030 is a voluntary agreement that enables collaborative action, shared learning and partnership working across the entire UK food chain to deliver farm-to-fork reductions in food waste, greenhouse gas emissions and water stress that will help the UK food and drink sector achieve global environmental goals.
Business collaboration.
Food retailers, manufacturers and brands can help their customers throw away less food by adopting the WRAP/Defra/FSA best practice in the retail environment: to help people buy the right amount for their needs, keep what is bought at its best, and to use more of what they buy.
Periodically, WRAP monitors the adoption of these recommendations via the Retail Survey publication and works with members of The Courtauld Commitment between surveys to increase the adoption.
The retail survey and follow up summaries provided by WRAP have helped us to easily define priority action areas in terms of best practice labelling. Their research around the amount and types of food being wasted in the home and the impact labelling changes have on consumer behaviour has also helped the Sustainability team to build a case for investing resource in changes to labels. The support provided by WRAP for our change from use by to best before dates on fresh milk is a great example of this.
Liz Fox, Sustainability Director, Aldi UK
Arla: Can reusable lids on yoghurt pots could reduce food waste?
In 2022 Arla joined forces with WRAP’s Behaviour Change Intervention Team to carry out research into whether reusable lids on yoghurt pots could reduce food waste. Consumers were offered free Arla Skyr yoghurt samples and a free reusable lid and were invited to take part in a questionnaire.
Findings: There was a clear increase in perception of yoghurt freshness as a result of using the lid and almost half of participants reported lower levels of yoghurt waste. The results are encouraging and indicated that a lid has potential to change behaviour and reduce the level of yogurt waste. Going forwards, a lifecycle analysis of reusable lid materials is needed before potential further distribution.
Unilever: Smart label promotion on Hellmann's mayo
Unilever promoted a ‘Smart Label’ on Hellmann’s mayonnaise jars during Food Waste Action Week 2022. Using influencers, consumers on instagram could see how a label with temperature changing ink indicated if a fridge temperature was above 5 degrees C and were directed to check their own fridge temperature using WRAP’s ‘chill the fridge out’ tool.
Educating consumers about the link between fridge temperature and household food waste fits with Hellmann’s established brand purpose to help its customers fight food waste.
Panasonic: Campaign to turn leftovers to 'nextovers'
Panasonic developed a pre-Christmas consumer campaign in 2022 focusing on transforming leftovers into ‘nextovers’ with the help of their 4-in-1 combi oven.
The campaign sought to inspire Panasonic’s audience to use up commonly wasted household ingredients, finding new ways to make something delicious.
WRAP worked with Panasonic providing citizen insights and statistics on the most wasted foods over the festive period, forming part of Panasonic’s campaign assets and messaging, which was communicated via paid and organic social activity, digital ads, influencer content, online print and a website landing page.
WRAP also joined forces with Panasonic as a ‘collaborator’ on our social channels, with LFHW_UK channels amplifying Panasonic’s posts throughout the campaign period. This meant posts were also distributed to Love Food Hate Waste followers' feeds, sharing views, likes and comments, achieving some record breaking engagement levels.
Food Waste Reduction Roadmap.
In 2018 WRAP and IGD led an industry-wide programme of work developing a roadmap for how the UK food industry will help achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, consulting widely with businesses, trade bodies and others from agriculture, production and manufacture, retail and hospitality and food service. Four years on, The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap continues to be the key delivery mechanism for the food waste target for the Courtauld Commitment 2030.
We are calling on businesses across the UK food industry to join the growing number of Food Waste Reduction Roadmap supporters as soon as possible. We recommend that businesses use the suite of guidance and tools available from WRAP and IGD to develop their capabilities and play their part in delivering SDG 12.3 by committing to target, measure and act now.
Fiona Powell, Head of Sustainability, IGD
Greenhouse Gases (GHG).
WRAP makes it easier for businesses to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions more consistently. Working closely with businesses, governments, academics and expert bodies to respond to an urgent need for clarity and direction for UK businesses, WRAP has consulted widely with the food and drink sector, including Courtauld 2030 signatories, to develop the Scope 3 GHG Measurement and Reporting Protocols for Food and Drink Businesses – along with supporting resources that any business can use, with minimum training.
Gathering robust data of our Scope 3 footprint and being methodologically aligned with our suppliers and partners across the industry will be vital in meeting our climate targets – and the convening role WRAP has played has been essential in enabling this work.
Bryony Waugh, Head of Environment, Tesco
Unilever Food Solutions: How to reduce food waste using Guardians of Grub tools
In June 2022 Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) and WRAP created a Hellmann’s and Guardians of Grub dual branded landing page on the Guardians of Grub platform, where Hellmann’s Hospitality and Food Services customers can go to find out how to reduce food waste using Guardians of Grub tools such as the Cost Saving Skills Course. To help direct chefs and kitchens to the free resources, Unilever have added a QR code to the 10 litre Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise, and shared tips and tricks in the form of videos from UFS chef and Guardians of Grub ambassador Alex Hall and interviews with fellow voices in the industry on how to tackle food waste.
We recommend that all hospitality businesses take a look at the Guardians of Grub resources, do a food waste audit and take steps to reduce possible wastage. Make sure teams are trained using the free Guardians of Grub Becoming a Champion behaviour change course to protect profits and our planet.
Kate Nicholls OBE – CEO, UK Hospitality
Taking collective action on water.
The Courtauld 2030 Water Roadmap is a practical response to the growing problem of water stress.
With WWF, the Rivers Trust and leading food and drink businesses, we’ve created collective action projects that work on a localised level, dealing directly with issues in key sourcing areas for food and drink.
Each project follows a similar model – but with specific activities relevant to the local context.
With recent extreme flooding events in the Western Cape the work of the restoration projects has helped create a buffer for the intensity of the climate impacts:
This collective action approach needs to be facilitated and supported through partnerships such as with the Water Roadmap, WRAP and WWF South Africa partnership and cannot be expected to be achieved at an individual level.
Shelly Fuller, Programme Manager, WWF South Africa
Local Authority & business collaboration.
Love Food Hate Waste, is a WRAP led campaign where we work with strategic partners to build and deliver insightful campaigns, taking our message directly to citizens. We believe in challenging attitudes, behaviours and mindsets to ensure citizens know the value of food: buying what they need, eating what they buy, and storing their food to make it last longer.
We have used the fantastic Love Food Hate Waste toolkit for our social media channels and to supply community projects with resources to use locally. The assets look great and are obviously well researched and tested. Using the toolkit saves us a lot of time we would otherwise spent creating our own.
Buckinghamshire Council
Premier Foods: ‘Fresh Take On Food Waste’ campaign
Premier Foods launched its ‘Fresh Take On Food Waste’ campaign in September 2022 to help their consumers to use reduce household food waste and make delicious meals with some of the UK’s most wasted foods.
Working with WRAP’s Behaviour Change and Love Food Hate Waste teams, Premier Foods created a microsite. To access the site and its extensive bank of recipes, consumers could scan a QR code located on Homepride, Lloyd Grossman and Sharwood’s cooking sauce ranges.
Here, consumers could use an app to match up foods in their fridge with a sauce with a recipe and could also access food waste hacks, such as freezing leftover cooking sauces.