With the Food is Precious initiative IKEA aims to cut food waste by 50% in all IKEA stores by August 2020. A little more than a year since the roll out of the initiative IKEA has diminished food waste that is equivalent to one million meals.To put that into a context; one million meals could feed one thousand people for a whole year.
With one third of all food harvested or produced around the world being lost or thrown away everyday IKEA wants to inspire and enable people to think different about food waste and incorporate sustainability into their everyday life.
Enthusiastic and dedicated co-workers as well as a simple technical solution are two of the key success factors of the Food is Precious initiative. Through a smart scale solution, food waste is measured and reported in IKEA Restaurants, Bistros and Swedish Food Markets. So far 35% of all IKEA stores have implemented the solution while other stores are preparing implementation.
“As we set out with high ambitions and the goal of decreasing food waste by 50% at IKEA we are happy to share that the initial results are very promising. All the stores that have implemented the solution show a significant decrease in food waste after only a few months. That is a great motivation for us to continue the roll out of the initiative working together with IKEA co-workers all around the world.” said Michael La Cour Managing Director at IKEA Food Services AB.
With 414 IKEA stores in 49 countries more than 660 million people enjoy the IKEA Food offer every year. “With the global reach of IKEA – La Cour said – we believe that we have a great opportunity to make a strong contribution to cut food waste and to inspire people to think differently and change their behaviour around food waste.”
IL BIOECONOMISTA 