Innovation for Food Waste - Conference Keynote 5th March 2014

@AntonyJCooke #foodwaste

Food Waste: Setting the Scene
Tony Cooke, Co-Founder, VEX
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Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester
Wednesday, 5th March 2014

© 2014 VEX Ventures Limited



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Some scene setting questions…
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How is food security perceived as a global risk?
Why is food waste such an issue globally?
What are the UK’s priorities on food waste?
Who is responsible for doing something?
Where can we look for solutions?



About me
Academic background in sustainability, business & innovation
• BSc(Hons) Rural Resource Management (Reading Univ)
• MBA (Exeter Business School)
• PhD Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Exeter Business School)

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20 years ‘spanning boundaries’ across food, health & society
• SMEs - agriculture, wholesale/distribution
• Multinationals - foodservice, manufacturing, ﬁnancial services
• Government - Defra, DH, DfE
• NGOs - FareShare, SRA, LEAF

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Change agent & honest broker

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Strong belief that answers can be found together

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Founded VEX as a catalyst for collaborative innovation



1.

How is food security perceived as a
global risk?


1. How is food security perceived
as a global risk?


Source: Global Risks Report 2014, World Economic Forum


as a global risk? Spatial Variability


Source: Food Security Risk 2012, Maplecroft


as a global risk? Link to Social Unrest


Source: Food Price & Social Unrest, FAO


1. How is food security perceived as
a global risk? Link to Water Security


Source: Water Insecurity Projected onto Gridded Cartogram of Global Croplands, Hennig (2008)


a global risk? Link to Population Growth


Source: worldmapper.org


a global risk? Link to Population Growth
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By 2050, the world will need 60% more calories to feed
9 billion people
Cutting food loss & waste levels in half will reduce that
gap by 22% (Lipinski (WRI), 2013)



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Q: Do you believe we can deliver food
security in 2050 through production
advances alone?



2.

Why is food waste such an issue
globally?


2. Why is food waste such an issue
globally? It’s not a new story…


Source: New York Times


globally? Developed vs Developing

kcal/capita/day of food loss/waste

Source: World Resources Institute (2013)


globally? >50% losses occur in Asia




globally?

% of kcal lost/wasted



globally? Heavy importing by some…




globally? Heavy exporting by others…




globally? Embedded food waste?
Largest net exporters (i.e. Asia Paciﬁc & Africa) are
regions with:
• fastest population growth
• highest levels of pre-consumer food waste %
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Largest net importers (i.e. Europe, China & Japan)
are regions with:
• slowest population growth
• highest per capita consumer waste
• lowest levels of pre-consumer food waste %



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Q: Do we need to know more about
‘embedded food waste’ in international
trade?



3.

What are the UK’s priorities on food
waste?


3. What are the UK’s priorities on
food waste?
Potted History!
• 1915 - Initial goal of WI
• 1940 - ‘wasting of food’ illegal
• 2000 - WRAP created
• 2007 - ‘Love Food Hate Waste’
campaign launched
• 2009 - ‘LFHW’ claimed
reduction of 137,000t/£300m
• 2009 - SoS Defra ‘War on
Waste’
• 2011 - 5 ﬂagship AD plants
• 2012 - ‘LFHW’ claimed 21%
reduction of household waste

Source: Wikipedia (2014)


food waste? c.50% in the household


Source: WRAP (2012)


food waste? Household food waste

Source: The Guardian (2012)


Source: WRAP (2012)


food waste? The ‘LEAN Food Chain’

Production

Storage/Transport

Processing

Packaging

Distribution

‘MUDA’ - 7 Wastes of LEAN (Taichi Ohno, Toyota Production System)!
• Over-production
• Defects
• Over-processing
• Inventory
• Motion
• Waiting
• Transportation


Retail


YES

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Q: Do you believe the food chain could
do more to reduce waste pre-consumer?



4.

Who is responsible for doing
something?


4. Who is responsible for doing
something? The ‘LEAN Food Chain’
Stage

Current Challenges

Future Priorities

Production standards, uniformity, food safety
Sustainable agricultural systems
Demand forecasting
Pre/post farm gate spoilage
Faster/shorter cold chain
Monitoring esp microbial activity

Plant research into maturation/ripening
Microbial research
Engineering an advanced cold chain

Technology adoption & transfer
Production efficiency
New customer-centric supply chain models

Process innovation - technology & engineering
Demand management

Shelf life extension
Information & tracking systems
Consumer acceptance

Active and/or intelligent packaging technology
Consumer awareness of packaging benefits

Faster/shorter cold chain

Advanced supply chain tracking systems
Flexible warehousing process

Consumer choice
Date labelling
Forecasting & inventory management


Seasonal weather prediction - ‘adaptive’ planning
Pest, disease, weed control
Precision farming techniques

Consumer engagement in food skills
CSR - retailer/consumer relationship
Optimising resource efficiency


something? Systemic Challenge


Source: WRAP (2012)


something? Systemic Challenge
Central & local government
Scientists &
Technologists

NGOs

Consumers

Educators
Entrepreneurs
Intrapreneurs
Design Thinkers


Source: WRAP (2012)


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Q: Do you believe the ‘food system’ has
an appetite for ﬁnding disruptive
innovations?



5.

Where can we look for solutions?


5. Where can we look for solutions?

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Consumer behaviour is clearly of paramount importance
Pre-farm gate losses, handling & storage also key
But don’t forget the main reasons for these:
• Off-spec product
• Demand forecasting
• Contractual risk transfer to producers
• Monopsony power of major retailers/manufacturers



Inﬂuencing consumer behaviour?


Source: WRAP (2012)


The 3 ‘Hypers’ - #1 Hyper-local



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Most global population growth up to 2050 will be in
>1,000 new cities of <1 million people across Asia and
Africa
These regions have worst challenges with post-harvest
losses, transportation and cold chain (c. 76%)
Hyperlocal food production - urban/peri-urban farming
will be integral to future city design




Tainjin EcoCity, China





Masterplan for Taihu District, Beijing - Harvard Graduate Design School



Aeroponics system - courtesy of Aero Farms Systems LLC



Building Integrated Agriculture (BIA) - renders supplied by A&F



The 3 ‘Hypers’ - #2 Hyper-connected

Swarm Intelligence - Technology now exists to enable millions of individuals to behave intelligently together


Dabawallahs of Mumbai!
Started in 1890

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5,000 Dabawallahs - all equal
shareholders, all equal earnings

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3 tiers of organisation - Council,
Supervisors and Dabawallahs

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Deliver 400,000 meals every day
from homes to workers in city

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1 error in 1 million meals

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Awarded Six Sigma & ISO9001

Frugal Innovation - Simple systems can also enable many people to behave intelligently together




Disruptive Distribution & Retail Models - online marketplaces connecting producers & food SMEs with consumers




From this…

…to this?


The 3 ‘Hypers’ - #3 Hyper-targeted


The Internet of Everything - micro sensors everywhere enabling swift,
targeted, personalised intelligence - aggregated & open



The Internet of Everything - more efﬁcient production & logistics,
improved demand forecasting, improved inventory management


The Hub of All Things!
Takes the Internet of Everything…
…and puts it into a marketplace.

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Will deliver personalised digital data,
consumer archetyping, multi-sided
market platform & trust broker

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‘Dis-intermediator’ - e.g. enables
transfer of data directly between a
product & the producer to prompt (or
even automate) re-sale

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RCUK research project between
Universities of Cambridge, Exeter,
Warwick, Nottingham, Edinburgh &
UWE
www.hubofallthings.wordpress.com



A ﬁnal thought…


A ﬁnal thought…
Beyond an ‘industrial paradigm’ for food?


Source: Brand & Rocchi (2011), Philips Design Paper


A ﬁnal thought…
…or an ‘experience paradigm’ for food?




A ﬁnal thought…
A ‘transformation paradigm’ for food?




YES

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Q: Are you feeling optimistic that
solutions can be found to tackle food
waste?



Thank you
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Please contact me
tcooke@vexventures.com

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+44(0)845 527 7220
www.vexventures.com

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VEX Ventures Limited | Innovation Centre | University of Exeter | Rennes Drive | EXETER EX4 4RN

Innovation for Food Waste - Conference Keynote 5th March 2014

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