ThaiBev Sustainability

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Food Loss and Waste

Food Loss
and Waste

Food Loss and Waste
Data Breakdown

According to the United Nations, at least one-third of all food, by weight, is lost or wasted. Globally, this has significant environmental impacts and is a factor driving climate change, since waste that decomposes in landfills generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has estimated that 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with unconsumed food. To help address this problem, ThaiBev is working to reduce its food loss and waste inventories and ensure that resources are used more efficiently to minimize the company’s environmental impacts.

ThaiBev has devised several strategies to reduce the total volume of food loss and waste generated along the value chain. These include selling raw material waste to create animal feed and donating safe and high-quality food surpluses to underprivileged people. Furthermore, the company aims to work with all of its stakeholders to innovatively track and reduce food loss and waste throughout the value chain.

Food loss and food waste have related, but different meanings based on where they occur in the value chain. Food loss is the decreased quantity or quality of food from harvesting, transporting, and production up to – but excluding – the retail level, while food waste occurs at the retail and consumption level.

One of ThaiBev’s top priorities is to accurately track and record any losses that occur within its manufacturing processes. The company then analyzes where and why these losses occurred, and develops goals for better management procedures. These assessments minimize losses in each process and maximize the reuse of what would otherwise be lost during production.

To reduce food loss, the company also works with its suppliers to ensure that raw materials meet quality standards and are not lost due to poor packaging or transport practices. ThaiBev also manages and sorts food loss according to different categories, while tracking the monthly volume for each waste disposal method. This data is maintained and monitored in order to meet the company’s reduction targets. With this system in place, ThaiBev tracks each type of food loss that occurs daily by weight, and looks for ways to reduce these losses effectively.

ThaiBev has collaborated with upstream and downstream partners to create innovative new products and programs to reduce food loss. Among the company’s key innovations are:

Transforming vegetable waste into fertilizer
Reutilizing bread crumbs and salmon waste in new food products
Donating raw material waste to be used as animal feed
Selling used oil to suppliers to produce biodiesel

ThaiBev is continuously working to improve data accuracy for food waste, collecting information from its retail stores, such as KFC and Shabushi. The company also works with logistics partners licensed in waste handling to ensure that waste is collected and handled properly. To avoid potential safety and hygiene issues, food waste, which is highly perishable, must be dealt with swiftly. ThaiBev is exploring various methods to create new value-added uses for its food waste, including selling food loss at production plants to pet food or feed manufacturers, and donating surplus food from its restaurant chains to organizations and communities.

Towards 2025 and Beyond

Goals

Zero food loss and waste to landfills by 2030

Moving Forward

Food waste reduction campaign and initiatives will be expanded to cover all ThaiBev restaurant chains.

In 2022 only 765.81 tonnes, or 32.42% of total food loss and waste, was discarded and sent to landfills. This means that the other 67.58%, or approximately 1,596.37 tonnes, was redirected and used for alternative purposes.

765.81 tonnes

of food loss and waste was directed to disposal.

1,596.37 tonnes

of food loss and waste was utilized for alternative purposes. The breakdown was as follows:

Food loss and waste donated as animal feed: 437.85 tonnes
Food loss sold as by-products: 1.89 tonnes
Food waste donated: 9.26 tonnes
Food loss and waste sold to produce biodiesel: 1,147.37 tonnes

Zero Food Waste Challenge
This campaign raises consumer awareness not to take too much food at one time.
KFC Harvest Program
Surplus food is donated directly to people living in disadvantaged circumstances.
Food surplus donation in collaboration with the Scholars of Sustenance (SOS) foundation
The OISHI Group works with the SOS foundation to donate food surplus to various vulnerable communities. The foundation works with restaurants in different locations, to pick up the food surplus (either raw or cooked).