REDUCING FOOD LOSS AND WASTE.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Annual food loss and waste are expected to grow explosively between now and 2030, according to a detailed model developed by The Boston (Mass.) Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm. However, aggressive action by companies, agricultural players, governments, and others can change that trajectory.

By 2030, food loss and waste are expected to hit 2,100,000,000 tons, worth 1.5 trillion dollars. There are five key drivers of the problem: lack of awareness of the issue among consumers and others; inadequate supply chain infrastructure; supply chain inefficiency; a lack of collaboration among groups across the food value chain; and poorly designed tax and regulatory policies. For each driver, BCG estimates the opportunity to reduce waste and loss, with the total reaching nearly $700,000,000,000 annually.

"Roughly one-third of the food produced around the world goes to waste," says report coauthor Esben Hegnsholt. "This represents a challenge so massive that it was included in the...