CEO.CA Chairman's Briefing

• New study from WRAP and Hellmann's shows that 45% of people say¹ they are throwing away the same amount of food or more per week than this time last year
• 1 in 3 people report they throw away the equivalent to one shopping bag of food per week, despite food waste costing families approximately $1,352 per year
• 1 in 2 people say they would value more support to be more resourceful with their food 

TORONTO, Sept. 28, 2022 /CNW/ - This International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, Hellmann's and climate action NGO WRAP have released a new four-market study² on latest food waste behaviours. The study indicates that nearly half of respondents throw away as much food or more than they did this time last year³, revealing an opportunity for consumers to save more by reducing waste in their homes. For 29% of Canadians, the amount of food they waste is equivalent to putting one shopping bag of food⁴ in the trash each week.  

Food waste is now costing families⁵ $1,352 per year on average⁶, with 1 in 2 study respondents underestimating the cost savings of reducing their waste. And it isn't just wallets that are left counting the cost when it comes to food waste – one-third of all food produced for human consumption globally is lost or wasted, contributing as much as 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions⁷ – and 61% of food waste happens in consumer homes⁸. 

"With this research we set out to uncover whether amidst the rising cost pressures for households, are people placing greater value on food and wasting less? Or is our waste just costing us more? According to our research, 85% of people report that their food bills have increased, however, people are still wasting the same amount of food (or more) than last year. We were excited to see some people were wasting less food, but clearly too much good food is ending up in the bin. After years of research, we understand that the barriers to reducing food waste are complex. However, easy, practical shifts in the home can make a big impact – not only to our wallets, but also to the planet." notes Richard Swannell, International Director, WRAP

Through 'Love Food Hate Waste' and Food Waste Action Week, WRAP helps and empowers people with practical steps to prevent  food going to waste in the home, and help mitigate against the impact food waste has on climate change.

WRAP first raised the issue of food waste publicly fifteen years ago and since then, has run the Love Food Hate Waste campaign to help people avoid the common triggers of food waste at home with information, advice, and tactics to make the most of their food and save money. 

As a brand committed to helping people enjoy great tasting food for the simple pleasure it is, without worry or waste, Hellmann's wants to be a force for positive behaviour change, adding to the enjoyment of food, while inspiring people to be more resourceful with what they have on-hand.

"As the cost of food continues to rise, it's more important than ever to be more resourceful and less wasteful at home," said Jack Froese, Chair of the National Zero Waste Council. "Our work with Love Food Hate Waste is all about helping people get the most from the food they buy – not just for the sake of their wallets, but for the sake of the planet, too. We were thrilled with Hellmann's and WRAP's participation in fruitful discussions about solutions throughout the food supply chain at the Zero Waste Conference, this week in Vancouver."

Delivered by the National Zero Waste Council and its partners, Love Food Hate Waste Canada is helping Canadians make the most of the food they love. The average Canadian household wastes 140 kilograms of food per year. Canada wide, this adds up to almost 2.3 million tonnes of edible food wasted each year, at a cost of over $20 billion.

According to the study conducted among consumers in Canada, US, UK and Australia, people report that they are starting to take action to better plan their food in other ways:

• 74% report they are using a shopping list
• 61% are planning meals in advance
• 58% report they are freezing fresh food, as well as freezing leftover food

Respondents shared that they want to be more resourceful with their food, but they often don't know where to start – 39% don't know where to find helpful information when it comes to reducing food waste.

"No one sets out with the intention of throwing good food away. The lack of time or energy are often the main drivers of food waste. Through our research, we discovered Canadians didn't have access to resources to help them, but they were keen to improve their skills and confidence to shift behaviour and reduce food waste. Our work with WRAP is intended to respond to that request and provide tools to make the most of the food they have on-hand. We are confident that with practical solutions, people will be able to keep track and think differently," explains Kristen Denega, Canada Hellmann's Market Lead & NA (North America) Innovations.

When asked, 60% of Canadians said they would like brands to help them be more resourceful with food.

Through its Fridge Night program, Hellmann's offers simple, practical solutions to help people be more resourceful with the food they have at home. By keeping track of their food waste, in combination with using the Fridge Night tools, families can reduce their food waste by up to 33%.

Fridge Night was developed in partnership with Toronto-based behavioural scientists BEworks and other leading food waste experts. They uncovered that simple actions that help people think differently about the ingredients they already have in their home can drive positive behaviour change that can help save money, food, and reduce noxious gases like methane from being released by organic waste in landfills. This includes: 

• A weekly Use-Up Day when people create a meal with left-behind ingredients – unused ingredients in their home that might otherwise end up in the bin.  
• Use of Hellmann's Flexipes – simple, flexible recipes that use the unique "3+1" approach to create delicious meals with the food they have on hand.
• The "3+1" framework uses everyday ingredients across different categories: a carbohydrate base, a commonly-wasted vegetable or fruit, a source of protein, plus a "magic touch" in the form of herbs, spices or a sauce to bring a dish together.  

Fridge Night is available for free in the form of an e-booklet or app to download here. The goal is to extend the program's reach and help millions of people make taste, not waste.

Each year, WRAP's Love Food Hate Waste campaign hosts the annual Food Waste Action Week to raise awareness of environmental consequences of wasting food and promote food waste reduction.  In 2021, In the UK, Food Waste Action Week reached more than 8 million people, with half taking action to reduce their food waste at home, and the third annual Food Waste Action Week will take place March 6-12, 2023. 

Everyone has a role to play in reducing food waste. This International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, let's enjoy great tasting food for the simple pleasure it is, without worry or waste.

To learn more, visit here.

Note: Hellmann's x WRAP Research was conducted by Edelman DxI in June – July 2022.

About Hellmann's

Hellmann's is committed to helping people enjoy great tasting good for the simple pleasure it is, without worry or waste. For over a century, the brand has helped people turn even the simplest ingredients into delicious meals. Hellmann's believes in the power of taste, because when food tastes good, less of it gets wasted. This belief has driven Hellmann's to be a force for positive behaviour change around household food waste. Hellmann's partnered with experts to conduct one of the longest and largest consumer behaviour studies on household food waste working with 2,000 families in Canada and the US gathering insights to help consumers better use the food they already have at home and to waste less. Hellmann's will continue to champion household food waste reduction through its "Make Taste Not Waste" campaigns, inspiring people to turn their left-behinds into easy, tasty meals. The past year alone, Hellmann's has been able to inspire more than 200 million people across the US, Canada and the UK.

About WRAP

WRAP is a climate action NGO working around the globe to tackle the causes of the climate crisis and give the planet a sustainable future. Our vision is a thriving world in which climate change is no longer a problem. We believe that our natural resources should not be wasted and that everything we use should be re-used and recycled. We bring together and work with governments, businesses and individuals to ensure that the world's natural resources are used more sustainably. Our core purpose is to help tackle climate change and protect our planet by changing the way things are produced, consumed and disposed of. 

WRAP's Love Food Hate Waste campaign runs the annual Food Waste Action Week, which happens in early March each year in the UK and in partner nations. The Week is a whole week of action to raising awareness of the environmental consequences of wasting food and promoting activities that help to reduce the amount of food we waste. The third annual Food Waste Action Week will take place from 6-12 March 2023 with the theme 'Win. Don't bin,' and it will demonstrate how valuable food is in our lives, how it unites people and how using up everything we buy saves money, time, and the planet. 

https://wrap.org.uk/   https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. We have 148,000 employees and generated sales of €52.4 billion in 2021. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world – including iconic global brands like Dove, Lifebuoy, Knorr, Magnum, OMO and Surf; and other brands such as Love Beauty & Planet, Hourglass, Seventh Generation and The Vegetarian Butcher.

Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world's first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap, more than 100 years ago, and it's at the heart of how we run our company today.

The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while:

• improving the health of the planet;
• improving people's health, confidence and wellbeing; and
• contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.

While there is still more to do, in the past year we're proud to have achieved sector leadership in S&P's Dow Jones Sustainability Index, 'Triple A' status in CDP's Climate, Water and Forest benchmarks and to be named as the top ranked company in the GlobeScan/SustainAbility Sustainability Leaders survey, for the eleventh consecutive year.

For more information about Unilever and our brands, please visit www.unilever.com

SOURCE Hellmann's Canada

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