Simplot Takes Home Award Recognizing Food Waste Action

August 09, 2024

At the recent National Food Waste Summit in Melbourne, Australia, Simplot was the proud recipient of the award for "Most Outstanding Contribution to Food Rescue in Australia." The recognition acknowledged Simplot's decades long partnership with Foodbank and our innovative approach to enabling food rescue across our whole value chain. Head of Global Food Sustainability Phoebe Dowling accepted the honor on behalf of the Company and its efforts.

Simplot's Head of Global Food Sustainability Phoebe Dowling and Foodbank COO Sarah Pennell.

Dowling also spoke at the event as part of an expert panel on Saving Australia's Fruit and Vegetables - Opportunities from Farm to Fork. This discussion looked at some of the biggest upcoming changes to reducing fresh produce waste and the economic, social and environmental benefits and opportunities they will provide across the supply chain.

Dowling shares information as part of the panel.

Among the highlights of Dowling's remarks were:

• Simplot was the first company to sign up to the Australian Food Pact in October 2021. The Pact's food waste reduction goals tie closely and further support Simplot's own waste reduction efforts, which include our 4Sight 2030 goal of zero waste to landfill by 2030 - which we are on track to achieve early.
• We have been collecting food waste data for three years and our approach has been to tackle our food waste opportunities one by one. Simplot's recent focus has been on better understanding what is left in the paddock post-harvest; we are now able to quantify the expected loss from potatoes that are unharvested. Due to the scale of our business, this is a significant amount of opportunity - and not just from the value of the potatoes themselves.
• Simplot's work around reducing food waste has the potential to financially benefit manufacturers and farmers, help to alleviate pressure on natural resources like water, reduce GHGs, and help to address food insecurity.
• In Tasmania, Simplot has played an active role in keeping fresh produce in the human food chain when it does not meet retail specification. Each year, Simplot buys and repurposes around 6,000 tonnes of vegetables that are rejected from the fresh market for minor cosmetic defects, processing them at our sites to become high quality Simplot final products, such as frozen chips or vegetables.

"The Summit delivered an energizing, informative and impactful event that covered a broad range of farm to fork topics that play a part in the paradox of growing food insecurity and an abundance of food waste in our country," Dowling pointed out. "The Summit was a great opportunity to collaborate with like-minded companies and reinforced the value, and Simplot's approach to addressing food waste in the Australian value chain."

L-R: Sustainability Programs Manager Mariel Starr; Head of Global Food Sustainability Phoebe Dowling; Logistics Process Excellence Manager Paul Algeri.

Simplot's efforts around curbing food waste are just one of the many ways we are focused on sustainably bringing Earth's resources to life, enabling us to deliver on our Company Purpose of Contributing to Feeding Our World.

Learn more about Simplot's operations in Australia.