National Food Waste Strategy is first major roadmap to reducing Australia's high rate of food waste
September 2021
The AFCCC was acknowledged and thanked for its initiatives in driving world best practice agendas for Australia's food cold chain at the launch of the National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study on 2 September 2021 by the Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, the Hon Trevor Evans.
The comprehensive report was commissioned by Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL), and the food waste roadmap will be implemented by the Federal Government-appointed Stop Food Waste Australia. AFCCC chairman Mark Mitchell, who attended the virtual launch, has welcomed the report as a positive step in the right direction. He said the minister's call to action at the report launch bodes well for a big increase in investment, time and resources.
AFCCC's work in driving a culture change in Australia's far from perfect cold food chain was acknowledged at the launch and in return, AFCCC has pledged its support for FIAL and will continue to help Stop Food Waste Australia in its plan to halve Australia's food waste by 2030.
Mark Mitchell reiterated the AFCCC's belief that every company that handles food in refrigeration should embed quality management systems throughout their entire process. He said that when the AFCCC meets a lack of appetite for improvement of cold chain processes, this reluctance to participate can be generally related to an inability to recognise that there is another, and bigger layer of responsibility on top of any number of refrigerated spaces, data acquisition technologies and intelligent refrigeration controls.
The food cold chain must be seen as a second layer, or a combination of the whole range of assets used by companies to transport, store and distribute food from farm or manufacturing facility to the consumer. Once these processes are incorporated into quality management systems, the chances of limiting food waste become increasingly higher.
Mr Mitchell said AFCCC would continue to support FIAL and the government's moves to meet the 2030 target. 'We are just one part of the cold chain, but we are one of the solutions to the problem. We are here to help,' he added.
