Competitiveness Must Be Increased by Reducing Produce and Food Waste

Press release, May 5,2014

Competitiveness must be increased by reducing produce and food waste

Competitiveness and profitability in much of the Danish food industry is declining. The fruit and vegetable sector are quite bad, where 30% of the production of potatoes, fruit and vegetables never reach retail stores and consumers. Instead, it becomes food waste. A major new innovation consortium, led by AgroTech A/S, will examine how the waste in the value chain from farm to fork can be significantly reduced.

Since 2000,Danish production of potatoes, fruit and vegetables has significantlylost competitiveness, and it is partly due to large amounts of waste in the value chain from farm to fork. The annual waste in the value chain of potatoes, fruit and vegetables is approx. 368,000 tons. It means that you could fill one long flatbed truck on the highway from North Jutland to the German border. The waste means that production costs are too high and that the primary producers do not achieve revenue and earnings of 30% of the potatoes, fruits and vegetables that are already used resources to produce, harvest and store over the winter.

The Innovation Consortium for reducing food waste in potatoes and vegetables, led by AgroTech, will examine how the waste in the value chain from farm to fork can be significantly reduced.

Aarhus University will focus on reducing produce waste by developing methods for improving quality assessment of the products at each stage of the supply chain so that waste can be eliminated. AgroTech, together with the various collaborators in the value chain, will implement the methods in the value chain, so that growing, harvesting, storage and preparation can be optimized and waste reduced.

30%reduction of waste
The lost profit for primary producers is estimated at an annual value of 600 million DKK according to the University of Copenhagen and The Institute of Food Economics. The consortium expects that the results of the project will generate additional annual value of 180 million DKK for the primary producers by reducing the current produce waste by up to 30%. The consortium will focus on reducing produce waste by developing methods for improving quality assessment of the value chain by which the different participants can optimize cultivation, harvesting, storage and preparation of the products pre-sale.

Sustainability and better quality
Reduction of produce waste will make food production in agriculture more sustainable and resource efficient. A reduction of 30% of the total food waste will reduce the carbon footprint by almost 14,000 tons of CO2. It is possible to reduce CO2 emissions due to the use of less water and fewer nutrients during production.

The project is managed by AgroTech A / S - Project Manager Morten Storgaard and the research section is managed by the University of Aarhus, Department of Food Science - Associate Professor Merete Edelenbos.

The project will last for four years and has a total budget of 37.3 million DKK, of which 14.6 million DKK isfinanced by theAgency for Research and Innovation in the Ministry for Education and Research, with the remainingamount being financed by the participating companies and research institutions.

For more information, contact:

Project Manager,Morten Storgaard, AgroTech, Tel. +45 2172 9958,