IKEA saves 1 million meals through food waste initiative

Posted by Liv Lemos / 13-Mar-2018

IKEA Amersfoort case study blog.jpg

IKEA has saved 1 million meals, just a little over one year since the launch of its Food Is Precious initiative. Aiming at cutting food waste by 50% in all its stores by August 2020, IKEA is using smart scales to help the team understand, measure, and thereby reduce waste. This result is a demonstration that with the right tools commercial kitchen can effectively reduce their food waste. We applaud IKEA for their forward-thinking initiative. They are leading the way on how companies should address this issue.    

See how an IKEA store in the Netherlands is saving €100,000 annually

Being careful with resources is a core value for IKEA and with the Food is Precious initiative IKEA aims to cut food waste by 50% in all IKEA stores by August 2020. A little more than a year since the roll out of the initiative IKEA has diminished food waste that is equivalent to one million meals.* To put that into a context; one million meals could feed one thousand people for a whole year. With one third of all food harvested or produced around the world being lost or thrown away everyday IKEA wants to inspire and enable people to think different about food waste and incorporate sustainability into their everyday life.

Enthusiastic and dedicated co-workers as well as a simple technical solution are two of the key success factors of the Food is Precious initiative. Through a smart scale solution, food waste is measured and reported in IKEA Restaurants, Bistros and Swedish Food Markets. So far 35% of all IKEA stores have implemented the solution while other stores are preparing implementation.

“As we set out with high ambitions and the goal of decreasing food waste by 50% at IKEA we are happy to share that the initial results are very promising. All the stores that have implemented the solution show a significant decrease in food waste after only a few months. That is a great motivation for us to continue the roll out of the initiative working together with IKEA co-workers all around the world.” says Michael La Cour Managing Director at IKEA Food Services AB.

With 414 IKEA stores in 49 countries more than 660 million people enjoy the IKEA Food offer every year. With the global reach of IKEA we believe that we have a great opportunity to make a strong contribution to cut food waste and to inspire people to think differently and change their behaviour around food waste.

* One meal equivalent to 450 gr. 450.000 Kg of food waste that has been avoided at IKEA equals three meals a day for thousand people for a whole year.

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