On Wednesday 19th March, we hosted a webinar in collaboration with the Food & Drink Federation (FDF) on the vital topic of food waste reduction. To raise awareness of Food Waste Action Week 2025, we brought together experts in the field who shared their insights and practical solutions to tackle this pressing issue.
James Watson, Partner at Argon & Co UK, shared examples from his wealth of experience in the Food and Beverage industry. He emphasised the importance of starting with high-quality data to effectively address food waste. He advised that the initial focus should be on areas where there is full control and urged businesses to engage with their partners across the value chain with the objective of minimising waste throughout the system.
Dan Byam Shaw, Policy Lead at the Felix Project (London’s largest food redistribution charity), shed light on the harsh reality of food waste, noting that less than 1% of surplus food is redistributed to people in the UK. As well as sharing the important and impactful work The Felix Project do redistributing food in London, he proposed four policy measures to enhance redistribution efforts, including the introduction of tax incentives for surplus food donations and clarification of legal protections for food donors.
Steve Thomas, CEO of Ample, a B2B marketplace for farm surplus, highlighted the substantial economic, environmental, and social benefits of rescuing more surplus food from farm gates. He pointed out that consumer preferences and supermarket standards are significant contributors to food waste. Steve introduced the Ample platform, which aids farmers in receiving a fair price for their surplus produce, emphasising that surplus food often matches or exceeds the quality of regularly distributed food, often being fresher and more local.
Once again, a big thank you to our speakers and to everyone who joined the webinar and contributed to the interesting Q&A.
If you couldn’t join us for the session, the full recording is available below.
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