Webinar: Reducing food waste, from insights to action

Earlier this month, we collaborated with the FDF for a webinar exploring one of the most pressing challenges in the UK food system today: reducing food waste through practical, scalable action. The session was held during Food Waste Action week and brought together Judith Richardson, Associate Partner, UK, and experts from GS1 UK, and Cranswick PLC. Collectively we examined the scale of the issue, the operational obstacles manufacturers face, and the technologies shaping the next wave of innovation.

Food waste remains a systemic environmental, economic, and social challenge. The UK generates 10.2 million tonnes of food waste every year. 58% occurs in households, 16% on-farm, and 13% during manufacturing, with the remaining portion generated from food service and retail. This not only represents a waste issue, but one that impacts resources and labour across a complex food value chain. In the context of one of the FDF’s 2030 ambitions to halve food waste per capita by 2030, action needs to be taken. What could this involve?

From insights to action: A framework for food waste reduction

A core focus of the webinar was on our manufacturer focused framework designed to help organisations move from visibility of issues to actioning improvements through three key steps: Identify, Prioritise, Act.

Identify: Understand the true scale and root causes

The first step is to gather unfiltered, non-aggregated data from across production. Removing filters (such as by shift, line, or product) helps reveal the real drivers of waste.

Prioritise: Focus on what matters most

Once insights have been gathered, they must be categorised by cost benefit and execution difficulty and developed into an initiative roadmap.

Act: Embed sustainable change

Delivery requires clear ownership at all levels with aligned KPIs across the business to prevent unintended conflict.

You can download our food waste reduction framework below:

Download our Food Waste Reduction Framework

Enabling transparency: Next-generation barcodes and the role of GS1

GS1 presented on how 2D QR codes are replacing traditional barcodes to meet rising consumer expectations for transparency and new EU traceability and Digital Product Passport requirements.

These next‑generation barcodes improve automated recall/expiry detection, visibility of stock nearing end of life, and store‑level automated markdowns.

By enhancing forecasting, batch traceability and lifecycle tracking, they can help manufacturers reduce waste proactively.

Case study: Cranswick’s dynamic QR code journey

Cranswick spoke on how it has begun rolling out dynamic QR codes across its product ranges, following a phased pathway of gap analysis, proof‑of‑concept testing, and full system implementation.

Along the way, they tackled challenges such as print clarity, smudging, scan speeds, verification, and cost management, reinforcing that R&D innovation is iterative.

The journey required close collaboration across retailers, sites, OEMs and suppliers to refine solutions at each stage.

Key takeaways from the webinar:

When assessing the causes of waste, avoid focusing solely on attention-grabbing issues, as they are often symptomatic of deeper systemic problems to explore
Do not let perfection be the enemy of good: sustainability progress is driven by consistent shifts in what is considered ‘normal’ and practical action to change this
Overcoming shared challenges can lead to shared benefits: do not be afraid to reach out to your network to work together
With rapid technological advancements approaching, data will become ever more available to both consumers and producers. With this increased transparency, expect increased regulation and consumer pressure. The time to act is now to not get left behind

Thank you to everyone who joined the session and to the panel of speakers: