By: David Fikes, Vice President, Consumer/Community Affairs and Communication, Food Marketing Institute

Innovation gave us the barcode, self-checkout and click-and-collect. As we look to the overarching, complex issue that is food waste, innovation holds the key to solutions that address this conundrum from multiple facets. Here are three, out of the many, food waste innovations created by the food industry.  

• Joining Together:  Born out of innovation and collaboration, the food industry joined forces in the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) to work on reducing food waste in the supply chain. Twenty-six companies are engaged in FWRA with the goals of helping the industry measure, manage and reduce food waste by benchmarking, developing best practices and fostering collaboration between companies, NGO’s, food relief agencies, and government.
• A Showcase: At this year’s FMI/GMA Global Sustainability Summit held August 19 – 21 in Denver, CO, food waste innovation will be front and center with the Food Waste Innovation Zone. This centrally located area will showcase innovations that help the industry reduce, recover and recycle food waste. 
• A Chance to Shine: The Summit will also host the first ever Food Waste Innovation Start-Up Challenge. Six food waste innovators from the Food Waste Innovation Zone will be selected to compete. Each of the top innovators will be given three minutes to pitch a panel of experts and the full conference audience their idea, followed by questions from the expert panel. The audience will choose the winning innovation – and bestow bragging rights on the victor.

 Learn more about the FMI/GMA Global Sustainability Summit and see the full line up of speakers and events.