Five Case Studies on Reducing Food Waste

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about 14 percent of our food is lost between harvest and sale. As a partner in the international BREADCRUMB project, lehmann natur—an importer and producer of organic fruits and vegetables—aims to help combat this waste. This spring, case studies on five fruit and vegetable products were completed as part of the project. Losses were measured from the field to the retail level based on food marketing standards. The findings:

• While limes are sometimes considered too yellow —even though they taste perfectly fine— lemons tend to go to waste if they’re too green. The key to successfully getting more limes and lemons onto supermarket shelves lies in educating consumers. That’s why lehmann natur is inviting retail partners to collaborate on developing campaigns that explain why color doesn’t matter.
• Lehmann Natur has observed the following with tomatoes and bell peppers: Complaints based on strict spoilage tolerances lead to “product tourism.” Such complaints are not unusual in the fruit and vegetable trade; dealing with them is part of everyday business. The problem, however, lies in the return shipment—usually the entire batch is sent back, not just the affected portion. As a result, additional produce often spoils on the return trip. This results in unnecessary transportation—at the expense of the environment.
• Cucumbers are 97 percent water and therefore often lose their firmness just a few days after harvest. This makes them all the more susceptible to damage during transport. Although Lehmann Natur is a sustainable organic farm that avoids unnecessary packaging, complex problems require effective solutions: for example, plastic wrap is particularly helpful at the beginning and end of a cucumber plant’s life cycle to reduce water loss and thus significantly extend a cucumber’s shelf life.

As part of the Breadcrumb Project, Lehmann Natur would like to discuss with industry representatives what measures can be taken collectively to reduce food waste. For example, to optimize return processes while conserving resources and reducing environmental impact, monetary refunds could be a viable alternative to “product tourism.”

Would you like to learn more about how food waste can be reduced between the farm and the retail sector? Then follow lehmann natur and the BREADCRUMB project on LinkedIn as well.