Boots and Iceland have become the latest retailers to sign up to WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment 2025 meaning 95% of the food and drink retail market is now represented.
The two retailers are among a list of 30 new signatories to the voluntary agreement, which sets targets for reductions in food waste, GHG emissions and water use in the supply chain by 2025.
Compass, Nando’s and Subway are among the foodservice operators confirmed as part of the latest wave of signatories, which also includes major suppliers such as Dairy Crest and Burton’s Biscuits.
“Building connections right across the supply chain makes Courtauld 2025 a powerful voluntary agreement and we are delighted with the desire for action shown from such a range of signatories,” said David Moon, head of sustainable food at WRAP. “Already we’ve set up a number of industry-led working groups that are meeting to address important issues. These range from water and waste to sustainable design and buying; to areas as diverse as fresh produce, meat protein, dairy, redistribution and hospitality and foodservice.”
The shared ambition of Courtauld 2025 signatories is to cut the resource needed to provide food and drink by one-fifth between 2015 and 2025.
The news comes in the same week as the London Evening Standard launched a major campaign to tackle wasted food and food poverty.
Food For London follows an investigation carried out by the newspaper that exposed what it called “the appalling amount of waste from UK supermarkets”, with 97% of surplus food that is fit for human consumption currently being sent for animal feed or to anaerobic digestion.
The campaign aims to redistribute surplus fresh food from UK food producers to people in need throughout London.
