Page 41 - Food&Drink Jan-Feb 2022 magazine

Cold chain food waste crisis
Australia wastes 7.6 million tonnes of food annually at a cost of $37 billion, with faults in the cold chain a major contributing factor. At Climate Control News LIVE, Stop Food Waste COO Mark Barthel outlined what is being done to address the issue. Sandra Rossi writes.
BOSTON Consulting says creating an unbroken, temperature controlled cold chain is a US$150 billion opportunity. Yet when it comes to cold chain optimisation, leading food waste expert Mark Barthel says Australia doesn’t even have the basics in place.
Speaking at the 2021 Climate Control News LIVE event Barthel, COO of Stop Food Waste, told attendees it needs immediate attention as there is a perfect storm brewing for the world’s food system.
Over the next 10 years, food demand will increase 50 per cent while demand for energy will rise 50 per cent and water 30 per cent.
The approaching storm is apparent when you combine those figures with rising climate risk, a growing population and
seriously lacking is in some of the basics like having standardised width of trucks and pallet sizes.
“The rest of the world has 2.6 metre pallets, we use 2.5 metres which leads to overloading, reduced airflow and other problems. I find this situation staggering. We haven’t got the basics right and the challengers are bigger here because we are dealing with the tyranny of distance,” Barthel says.
“Fresh food in Australia spends more than half its life in transit. Up to 60 per cent of cold chain failures are due to human error, we need more expertise which is why the Australian Food Cold Chain Council (AFCCC) is working on a new code for the industry.”
Barthel says it is important to create chain of custody
THE COLD CHAIN
"Australian Certified Humane"
is a brand that has been developing over the past six years.
The foundation of this brand has been to provide full traceability complemented by an independent third party auditable welfare standard and grass fed standard for beef, sheep and goat production in Australia.
Contact: alisdairrobertson30@gmail.com
“ We haven’t got the basics right and the challengers are bigger here because we are dealing with the tyranny of distance.”
middle class, increasing levels of urbanisation and the need to alleviate food poverty.
“This amount of food waste could fill the Melbourne cricket ground nine times while demand for food relief increased 47 per cent in 2020.
information to understand why faults and breakdowns occur in transit. For example, a mango grown in Katherine will travel 3500 kilometres and pass through 14 logistical partners before it arrives in Melbourne.
“That’s a lot of opportunity for problems so there needs to be a good flow of information,” he says.
While there is an emerging range of technologies including sensor technologies, AI, and machine learning, we still need to get the basics right, he says.
While reducing food waste is motivation enough for change, for every $1 invested in achieving, we get $7-$10 in return.
For more information on the work Stop Food Waste is doing with the cold chain sector, visit stopfoodwaste.com.au. ✷
“A study found that $43 billion worth of food in Australia is reliant on the chain to reach the dinner But right now, 25 per cent fresh food and vegetables wasted,” Barthel says.
cold table. of are
He says it is hard to believe there is no standard or regulation around insulation in the cold chain when the National Construction Code (NCC) specifies insulation for everything else.
One area where Australia is
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | January-February 2022 | Food&Drink business | 41