Stop Food Waste Day

COMPASS TAKES STOP FOOD WASTE DAY GLOBAL

Following the successful launch of Stop Food Waste Day in the US last year, Compass Group ("Compass") is today announcing that it will expand the initiative across the globe to tackle this growing international issue.

Stop Food Waste Day, being held this year on Friday the 27th of April, has the potential to reach more than 10 million consumers.  It will bring together 30 countries from Australia to Japan, Turkey to the UK, right the way to Canada, the US and Brazil.  Compass country teams will receive ongoing support, ranging from training and tools to focus on reducing food surplus, help in building partnerships to donate excess food to local communities, and marketing materials to raise awareness of ways to save at home. Compass has committed to reducing 50% of food waste by the year 2030, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. To this end, Compass’ two biggest markets have introduced targets:

· In the US, reduce 25% of its food waste by 2020

· In the UK & Ireland, reduce food waste by 10% by 2020 (versus 2016)

To reach these ambitious targets, Compass has been working with some of the most innovative companies in the food waste sector. These include organisations such as Winnow in Europe, a company with a smart technology solution to enable commercial kitchens to measure and better manage their food waste; Lean Path, a waste-tracking software used at major client sites in the USA and Waste Not, a Compass proprietary web-based food waste-tracking software used in its US business.

Compass' drive to make Stop Food Waste Day global is part of its aim to encourage positive actions in support of combating the rising problem of food waste. Food waste has quickly become a critical issue for the planet, both for the environment and for people:

· Globally… one third of all food produced worldwide, 1.3 billion tons per year, is wasted. This accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than any country except for China and the US

· In the US… 38 million tons of food is thrown away every year, or the weight of 104 Empire State Buildings, with a bit to spare

· In Japan… 19 million tons of food is thrown away each year, with up to 9 million tons being disposed of before its expiration date

· In the UK… the average family is wasting nearly £60 a month by throwing away almost an entire meal a day

·In Canada… $31 billion in food is wasted each year, approximately 30% of all food produced in the country

· In Spain… food waste in households accounts for almost 3 billion euros per year

To mark Stop Food Waste Day, Compass is running events around the world, launching in New Zealand and Australia, working its way through Kazakhstan and India, Denmark and Slovakia and ending in Portland, Oregon. Stop Food Waste Day will take place each year during the last week of April.

Nicki Crayfourd, Compass Group Director of Health, Safety & Environment:

"As the statistics show, food waste is becoming an ever increasing issue that we need to tackle globally. As an international organisation, Compass is in a privileged position to use its presence to raise awareness of this problem. Despite there being a strong desire to limit the amount we waste, a huge obstacle many people face is that they simply do not know how they can do more. Through Stop Food Waste Day, and our ongoing food waste reduction programmes, we are focused on doing as much as we can to teach people just how easy it is to do their bit."

For more information:

Compass Group                                          www.compass-group.com

Stop Food Waste Day                                  www.stopfoodwasteday.com

Enquiries:       

Compass                      Zsa Zsa Soffe                           +44 (0) 1932 573 135

Finsbury                       Humza Vanderman                    +44 (0) 2072 513 801

                                   James Kavanagh                      

Notes to Editors:

Compass Group PLC is the world's leading food service company, which generated annual revenues of £22.6 billion in the year to 30 September 2017.  It operates in around 50 countries, employs over 550,000 people and serves over 5.5 billion meals a year. The Company specialises in providing food and a range of support services across the core sectors of Business & Industry, Healthcare & Seniors, Education, Sports & Leisure and Defence, Offshore & Remote, with an established brand portfolio. 

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