Skip to main content

Preventing food waste throughout the value chain in Norway

  • Published on March 18, 2021
The Norwegian Government established in 2017 a unique negotiated and binding agreement, building a partnership with the entire food sector.

A third of all food produced in the world is never eaten because food is spoiled or discarded, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation. In Norway alone, the average consumer in 2017 threw out 42 kg edible food every year. Food waste in the entire food chain represented 68 kg per person per year, according to the Norwegian Government.  

To contribute towards reducing the environmental consequences associated with food production and consumption in Norway, the Norwegian Government established in 2017 a negotiated and binding agreement, building a partnership with the entire food sector. 

This agreement involves five ministries and twelve sector organizations from the industry, and aims to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030, in accordance with SDG 12 to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”, which includes amongst its objectives to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030".

Covering the entire value-chain, this innovative agreement involves all key stakeholders from primary producers to consumers, including food manufacturers, restaurants, supermarket chains, convenient stores, kiosks and gas stations. Measures at one point along the value chain may affect whether the food is wasted or not at another point of the value chain, and this inclusion safeguards against disproportionate pressure on just one part of the food chain.

By triggering cooperation between these actors from both the private and public sector, it goes beyond the UN sustainability goal 12.3 and encourages partners to meet at a regular basis to exchange lessons learnt.

The main results from this initiative and the change it has triggered in the food sector will be presented by Marianne Gjørv on March 22 at the online event: “Let’s meet in the middle: How the central stages of the food value chain shape the way we produce and consume".

Following the release of the report "Catalysing science-based policy action on sustainable consumption and production: the value-chain approach and its application to food, construction and textiles", this event hopes to illustrate one of the reports’ main messages – that whereas the most significant resource use and environmental impacts are taking place at the production stage, it is the structurally powerful and concentrated middle stages of the value chain which shape to a large degree what farmers produce and sell, and what consumers buy and eat. – through a series of inspiring, real-world examples from the One Planet network and beyond.

Upcoming value-chain consultations

This webinar will also set the stage for a series of upcoming consultations over the course of 2021, which will take place across the sectors of Food, Construction and Plastics. The first set of consultations will identify innovative business and policy solutions in the Food sector, undertaken through expert workshops each focusing on specific stages of the value chain. 

To get involved in these consultations, you can nominate an expert to participate in the workshops or submit existing initiatives and solutions to have the most comprehensive mapping of initiatives and solutions along the food value chain.

You might also be Interested in