Food Waste and Food Loss
Current State and Future Potential in Japan and in the World

Rumi Ide, Ph.D. in Nutrition
Executive Director, office 3.11, Inc.
Lecturer at Kagawa Nutrition University and Visiting Professor atIshinomaki Senshu University

Rumi Ide, Ph.D.

Contents
1. Global Food Waste
2. Food Waste and Food Loss in Japan
3. Factors of Food Loss in Japan
4. Latest Trends in Japan
5. Food Banks: Initiatives to Reduce Food Loss
6. Benefits for Companies, Institutions, andGovernment
7. Future Potential1. Global FoodWasteGlobal Food Waste (per year)

1.3 billion tons
This represents 1/3 of that produced
Source: the Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations (FAO)Global Food Waste
Research report prepared for theSAVE FOOD exhibit shown atinterpak 2011 in Dusseldorf,
Germany

Translated into Japanese by theJapan Association for International
Collaboration of Agriculture andForestry (JAICAF)

Food Waste in the US

53.8 million tons
(Food waste study conducted by Dr. Timothy
Jones in 2004 for the University of Arizona)

Food Waste in England

20 million tons
(Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP))

2. Food Waste andFood Loss in Japan

Amount of food discarded in Japan in one year:

Over 17 million tons

The amount of this food that could still
have been eaten:

5-8 million tons
Study by the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries= Food Loss

Annual rice production is 8.43
million tons

Japan discards more food than the amountprovided by global food assistanceFood Loss Breakdown
5 ~ 8 million tons
Households
2-4 million tons

Companies
3-4 million tons

Actual Examples of Food Loss:
HouseholdImage of household waste in Suginami
Ward from the NHK program "TokyoMetropolis" aired on June 1-4, 2012

andCompany Cases

Another image of bread taken from major
supermarkets in the Tokyo metropolitan
area and distributed to Sanya

3R
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:
Targets in restricting food production

ReduceReuseRecycle

The Biomass 5F
Usage methods with high added value should be prioritized.

Fiber
Feed
Fertilizer
Fuel

Added value

FoodCorporate Responsibility• Compliance with the Food Recycling Law
Established in 2000 followed by amendment

Food Recycling Law
The Food Recycling Law was established to promote the effective use ofresources and to reduce the amount of food and other waste. The final
aim of which is to build a recycling-based society that has little impact on
the environment.

• Reduce the production of food and other waste

Targets as of April, 2014
Food retailers: 65.6 kg per 1 million yen of sales
Food manufacturers: Targets set vary depending on
business classification

3. Factors of Food
Loss in Japan

Why is food loss produced?

1. Damaged Packaging

2. Problems with Food Labeling3. Seasonal, Limited, and Revised Products

4. Canceled Products (due to severe
weekly sales conditions, etc.)

5. Food Inspections and Organizational
Cooking

6. Vegetables not meeting
standards or being mass-produced

7. Events and Food Exhibitions
25,200 bananas in 2013
17,680 bananas in 2014

8. Excess Purchasing and Bestbefore Dates

Image of household waste
collection in the metropolitan
area from the NHK program"Tokyo Metropolis" aired onJune 1-4, 2012

April, 2013: Enforcement of Metropolitan Tokyo
Ordinance on Measures for Stranded Individuals

9. Disaster Food Supplies by Households,
Companies, and Local Government

Companies must have 3 days
worth of water and foodprepared for employees10. The One-Third Rule
Production

Delivery Deadline

Sales Deadline

Best-before Date

113.9 billion yen + 41.7 billion yen(1.1billion USD + 410million USD)
England, France,and Belgium2010 estimates provided by the Distribution Economics Institute of Japan and a Manufacturing, Distribution and Sales
Cooperative Report from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

What is the “cycle” from consumers toretailers (wholesalers), and producers?
Consumers
Expectations that stores are always
filled with productMust make versatile products
Producers

Retailers
Penalized if there are product shortages(gross profit compensation).
Efforts to not lose customers due to customer
dissatisfaction and competition

Consumers

Retailers
Wholesalers

Producers

4. Latest Trends inJapan

Basic Act on Food Education(Enacted on July 15, 2005, Article 3, First Chapter)

Gratitude toward and understanding of food

Mandates for government agencies to coordinate
efforts to reduce food loss in Japan
1. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
2. Consumer Agency

3. Ministry of the Environment
4. Cabinet Office (responsible for food education)
5. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology
6. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

Working Group on Business Practices to Reduce Food Loss
Grant project by the MAFF
• Food manufacturers (9 companies): Ajinomoto(Flavoring and Seasonings Council), Ezaki Glico,
Kikkoman Foods, Coca Cola Customer Marketing,
Suntory Foods International, Nissin Foods, House Foods,
Maruha Nichiro Foods, and Megmilk Snow Brand• Food wholesalers (3 companies): Kokubu (ProcessedFood Wholesalers Association), Mitsubishi Foods, andYamaboshiya• Food retailers (4 companies): Aeon Retail (Japan ChainStore Association), Ito-Yokado, Tokyu Store, and FamilyMart

Study Group Results1. Confectionery and Beverage Pilot Project
Producers

Delivery Deadline

Sales Deadline

Best-before Date

113.9 billion yen + 41.7 billion yen
Current state

34 companies (August 2013 - February 2014)
Food loss reduction = 40,000 tons
(equivalent to approximately 8.7 billion yen or
870 million USD)

Confectioneries
Beverages

Continues to study any affect on food loss, reduction in CO2emissions, and delivery deadlines after a change occurs.
Report from the Distribution Economics
Institute of Japan2. Review of Suitable Expiration Dates
Nissin Foods and Myojo Foods from April 1, 2014
Cup Noodles: 1 month longer (to 6 months)
Bag noodles: 2 months longer (to 8 months)
The Japan Instant Food Industry Association with over
60 companies as members conducted a one-year study
on the progress of packaging technologies
They concluded that expiration dates could be extended
1-2 months.

This is expected to have positive impact on reducing food loss aswell as disaster foodsupplies.

3. Changing dates to include only themonth and year
May 2013: Labels on mineral water (2 L) changed to include only the month andyear removing the actual day.
June 2014: Labels changed for soft drinks with expiration dates of over one year
(Ex.: Changed from June 3 to simply May)

Intended to end the difficulty in storing, resupplying, and transporting goods that
accompanies expiration dates measured in days and reduce CO2 emissions by
reducing transport operations.
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable "Sustainability ProjectCommittee" established to reduce CO2 emissions and wasted transport costs from
redelivering good to different businesses only 1 day after the expiration dateexpires.
Reduce CO2 emissions for the entire industry by 2,000-3,000 tons per year.

4. Difference between the expiration
date and best-before date

Report from the Distribution
Economics Institute of Japan5. Sales Investigations and Food BankActivities

Report from the Distribution Economics Institute of Japan5. Food Banks
Initiatives to Reduce Food Loss

Two Social Issues
Food loss(wasteful)

Poverty(hunger)

Brief Description of Food Banks

Leftover
Food

Food loss
5-8 million tons

People who do
not haveenough foodto eat

20 million people
below the poverty
lineBrief Description of Food Bank Activities
Food Bank Relational
Diagram
Beneficiary

Companiesandindividuals(generalhouseholds/farmers)

Welfarefacilities
andorganizatio
nsFood andIngredients

Food Bank

From the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries website

Child care training facilities,
welfare services for people withdisabilities, and homeless support
organizations

Benefactor

Global Food Banks (21 countries+)
1967 US
1981 Canada
1984 France
1986 European Food Bank Association

1993 Germany
Asia
1998 Korea (over 425 locations now)
2000 Japan (over 40 locations now)
2012 Philippines

US
Tax Incentives
Poverty Eradication
Good Samaritan Law

Retail Food Waste in Germany
310,000 tons (1/5 of that in Japan)(Alternal Online)

EnglandCompanies want zero-hour contracts
The number of food bank users between January throughFebruary in 2013 is equivalent to the total number ofusers in 2012, or 35,000 people.
(According to Trussel Trust, a food bank interim supportorganization)
British Red Cross delivered food for 3 days at the end of
November in 2013 (first time since WWII)NHK BS1 World Wave Morning broadcast in November,
2013

TurkeySocial Market

Examples in the Philippines
Several hundred tons of okra exportedto Japan is discarded due to notsatisfying Japanese standards.
Stored for 6 months before being
processed into okra noodles
Significant loss of grain andagricultural properties due to processed foods

Repurpose

LBC FoundationChina Clean Your Plate Campaign(stop habitual leftovers)
50 million tons/year disposed
8% of grain production
20% of vegetable production
Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture"A surprising amount. Saving food is anextremely important national strategy.
The government should provide guidanceon being more efficient and frugal."
From "Outlook", a weekly news magazine fromXinhua News Agency

TaiwanSouth Korea

Examples in JapanRatio of people inJapan that do nothave enough food toeat
1 in 6 people (20 millionpeople)
Basis of calculation
The relative poverty rate as in the "Overview of the 2010 National Livelihood Survey"
conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is 16.1%, which is equivalent
to approximately 1/6 of the total Japanese population.

People with particularly high levels of urgency
2.41 million people (estimated)

The elderly
Single mothers(mother and children)
Foreign residents inJapan
Homeless

Estimates from Second Harvest Japan

National Food Bank Organizations(MAFF website)Second Harvest Japan (2HJ)• First food bank in Japan started in 2000
• Became an NPO with a director andstaff of 11 in 2002
• Food bank (to sites)• Pantry (to individuals)• Soup Kitchen• Policy Recommendations

Organizations
and individuals

Food companies
Retailers
Farmers

Food BankServices
Child caretraining
services

Single mothersupportservices

2HJ: Growth of companies who have concluded agreements 560

Current as of December 6, 2013

Solutions to social issues provided by food banks
Food loss: Reduced by 10,141 tons

Economic: 5,801,320,000 yen(58million USD)

Social welfare: 371,645 people

Environmental: CO2
emissions reduced by 3935 tons

Second Harvest Japan 2002 - 2013

Food Banks
Food received from food manufacturers, retailers, and farmers

Increases in amount of food managed (tons)
Total between 2002-2013: 10,141 tons
Financial conversion: 4,787,250,000 yen (47million USD)
3500

Disposal costs: 1,014,060,000 yen (11million UDS)
3152

3000

Total: 5,801,320,000 yen

2500

2057

2000

1689

1500

850

1000
500

30

255

370

2006

2007

560

813

0

2002

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Current state of food waste
1788 tons/year Food waste (2009)→ 5-8 million tons (annual rice production)→3-4 million tons from companies→2-4 million from households

2HJ utilization =1/10,000 of total foodloss
Food and environmental issues are national issues

Food Banks
Examples of using ingredients at sites

Pantry: Many people from Myanmar and the Philippines
Grains and processed foods → A lot of carbohydrates and saltMany vegetables are used in soups<Soup Kitchen><Supplies>Income and Amount of Vegetables Consumed
Amount of vegetables consumed: Low for men andwomen in income brackets less than 2 million yen(200,000 USD) andbetween 2-6 million yen(200,000 -600,000USD) (Results of national healthand nutrition surveys conducted in 2010)

Soup Kitchen in Fukuoka
Uses many different kinds of vegetables including root
vegetables

6. Benefits forCompanies,Institutions, andGovernment

Benefits for Companies
Reduced disposal costs
Reduced impact on the environment
Improved employee moral
Social responsibility (CSR)

Benefits for Institutions
Appropriate freed up food expenses to otherexpenses
Increased pleasure and improved experience of
eating foodFood cost savings
Mental and physical fulfillment

Benefits for government
Reduced food loss/environmental
conservation
Provide support to impoverishedpeople (poverty eradication)
Reduces financial burden
Community revitalization

7. Future PotentialApril, 2013: Metropolitan Tokyo Ordinance on
Measures for Stranded Individuals

3 days worth of water andfood must be prepared forall employees

Quality standard and production adjustment ofvegetables

Producers
Review of new products, number of
items produced, and seasonal/limited products

Distribution and Sales
Review of the 1/3 rule (salesdeadlines) and shortage penalties
ProductionDelivery Deadline

Sales Deadline

Best-before Date

Can still be eaten
Over 150 billion yen(1.5billion USD) worth of food disposed

Restaurants
Portions that can beeaten completely
Allow takeouts and doggybags

Municipalities
Fukui Prefecture

Yamaguchi

Prefecture

SaitamaPrefecture

NaganoPrefecture

ToyamaPrefecture

Chiba
Prefecture

Niigata
Prefecture
Niigata City

Religious Organizations
More than 180,000 throughout JapanTemples
outnumber convenience stores (over 75,000)

Communication

Allow Diversity Multiple Stakeholders
GovernmentBusinessesNPOsSchools

Food = Physical + Mental