Food Waste Mitigation via Transportation

Jan 07, 2024

Photo by Sara Stasi on Unsplash

It is estimated that 1.3 billion metric tons of food are lost or wasted annually, translating to a financial loss of $1 trillion (USD) annually. And without significant changes, this problem is expected to grow to 2.1 billion metric tons and $1.5 trillion (USD) by 2030.

Staggering as these numbers might be, they do not consider the hidden costs of food production, including labor, storage and salvage or the expenses related to customer dissatisfaction, lost opportunities and inventory/stocking level imprecision.

Shockingly, one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost due to wastage, which has significant financial and environmental and social implications.

The commodities with the highest level of waste are:

Food waste and loss are pervasive throughout the food value chain—"from farm to fork." A sensitive, temperature- and climate-controlled commodity, fresh and frozen food is vulnerable to spoiling from the beginning of processing to the finished product. Harvesting, manufacturing, packaging, transporting a stock rotation, and the consumers’ tendency to overbuy contribute to excessive waste and spoilage.

While many variables impact wastage, approximately 7-15% happens during transport. The fact that 10,000 shipping containers go missing yearly contributes to the situation. However, a more common problem relates to temperature control or refrigeration issues during transport—affecting the integrity of the food—making it unacceptable for human consumption. In fact, in the U.S., one-half of all fresh produce is lost due to suboptimal shipping conditions.

As SeaCube's Chief Commercial Officer, Gregory Tuthill leads the global sales, marketing, and trade teams. He has over 30 years of industry experience in this position. Before SeaCube, Mr. Tuthill was senior vice president and chief operating officer for CMA-CGM. He also held various positions, including head of operations at APL and several executive positions during his 16 years at NYK Line. Mr. Tuthill served as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Naval Reserve and holds a US Coast Guard Third Mates License. He has obtained a bachelor's degree in computer science from the State University Maritime College at Fort Schuyler, NY and earned a master's degree in financial economics from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He also holds a certificate in Financial Analysis from New York University.