Waste not, want not.

Food waste is a global issue.

The global food industry has been on a decades long journey to reduce waste at every stage of the journey from farm to plate.

In 2022, the amount of food waste in the UK was estimated at 95kg/person/year, and of that, roughly 10kg of meat and fish.

A 2021 study by researchers in Poland found that 23% of the volume of meat production is wasted. Roughly 1/3 of this waste happens during production, distribution, or manufacturing.

There are several ways waste affects income for meat producers and processors:

1. Higher costs.
2. Reduced sales
3. Reduced profitability
4. Lower efficiency and productivity

The combination of lower sales and higher costs is a recipe for financial problems. So what can companies do to waste less of their production?

More buyers

Meat producers often rely on a small number of long standing buyers. However this also means that suppliers are subject to the varying demand from their existing buyers, affecting prices, and the volume and value of goods sold. Suppliers should develop a broad mix of buyers to mitigate the variation in demand from one or two (often local) buyers, to a diversified mix of buyers with different demand profiles from a variety of (often regional and international) locations.

More products

If carcass utilisation is low, buyers should invest to offer products in demand by buyers outside of its traditional buyer group. Offal, and other by-products are good examples of products which are in regular demand in markets around Europe, and globally, however which may for a variety of reasons not be commercially viable among buyers located in closer proximity to producers and processors.

Facilities

Smaller producers and processors often rely on smaller cold storage facilities, and have to prioritise which cuts to store and which to process via waste disposal or rendering facilities. By investing in larger facilities or partnering with 3rd party cold storage providers, producers and processors can retain their products in storage for long enough until they can be sold.

What is the role of an online marketplace?

We set up Meatborsa under a year ago, and already more than five hundred meat companies have registered. As a starting point, Meatborsa offers every meat producer and processor the opportunity to list their products for sale, making each listing visible to 1000s of new visitors every week. This creates the opportunity for producers and processors to create awareness and demand for more of their products, increasing sales, and reducing the share of their production that is wasted.