Save-On-Foods Tackles Food Waste Reduction Goals

Save-On-Foods is celebrating a year of focused effort to surpass its company-wide goal to reduce food waste by 50 percent by 2025. Through its food waste diversion programs, Save-On-Foods has undertaken initiatives in stores across Western Canada to divert surplus and potentially wasted food away from landfills and redirecting it to the best use in a consistent, safe and measurable way.

Food waste is a critical issue in Canada, with almost 60 percent of food produced in the country wasted annually. It is estimated more than half of the amount Canadians spend on food each year is wasted, or enough to feed every Canadian for five months.

In addition to its original full organic diversion programs in areas like Metro Vancouver, Save-On-Foods has partnered with Food Banks BC, Mesh Exchange (dba FoodMesh), Loop Resources and a number of local charity partners in local markets in an effort to reach their ultimate goal of having zero surplus and potentially wasted food waste going to landfill. Through a variety of partnerships all centered on food safety and appropriate diversion, this goal has now been accomplished in more than half of all Save-On-Foods stores in just one short year.

“We have already rolled out our food waste diversion program in nearly 100 of our 170 stores,” said Darrell Jones, president of Save-On-Foods, in a statement. “We have been composting perishable waste where possible for a number of years, but we knew we could do better. This new goal furthers our commitment to ensuring all unsaleable food in our operation is put to the best and highest use. We look forward to expanding our initiative across all of our stores in Western Canada.”

Save-On-Foods helped create Food Bank sharing programs across Canada, donating more than $4 million in goods and cash each year for the last 25 years and launched the Share It Forward for Food Banks initiative in 2018, among other initiatives.