The Global Food Waste Problem by the Numbers

1.3 billion tonnes. That is how much food is lost or wasted globally each year according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. It is enough to feed every hungry person on earth more than twice over.

The scale of the problem

When we say one-third of all food is wasted, that includes every stage from farm to table. A significant portion is lost before it even leaves the farm due to overproduction, cosmetic standards, and lack of storage. More is lost in transportation and processing. The final portion, and the one most visible to consumers, is waste at the retail and food service level.

In high-income countries, most waste happens at the consumer and food service end. In low and middle-income countries, more waste occurs early in the supply chain due to infrastructure limitations. Both problems are real and both require different solutions.

The environmental cost

Food waste is responsible for about 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. When food decomposes in landfill, it produces methane, which is approximately 25 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas over a 100-year period.

But greenhouse gas is only part of the picture. Growing food requires water, often enormous amounts of it. Producing one kilogram of beef, for example, requires approximately 15,000 litres of water. When that beef is wasted, so is all the water that went into producing it. The same applies to every crop, every ingredient, every prepared meal.

Why the food service sector matters

Globally, food service accounts for roughly 26% of total food waste by weight. That is a significant share, and it is one of the most addressable. Restaurants, hotels, and bakeries are identifiable, accessible businesses with defined operating hours. They know roughly how much they prepare each day. They have staff on site.

The challenge has historically been that there was no practical, fast mechanism for them to connect with potential buyers for their end-of-day surplus. Listing food on a general marketplace takes time they do not have, and the price sensitivity required to move surplus food quickly is different from normal retail pricing.

Why local platforms are the right model

Global food systems are complex, but food consumption is inherently local. A restaurant in Port of Spain needs customers who are within pickup distance before closing time. The logistics of surplus food do not scale globally. They scale locally.

This is why regionally focused platforms tend to work better than trying to bolt surplus food onto a global marketplace. The matching problem, connecting a business with surplus to a consumer who can reach them tonight, requires local density. Building that density in one region first is a more tractable problem than trying to build it everywhere at once.

Progress being made

Several countries have made meaningful progress on food waste in recent years. France passed legislation in 2016 requiring supermarkets above a certain size to donate unsold food rather than discard it. South Korea implemented a pay-as-you-throw system for food waste that cut food waste by 10% in five years.

These are policy interventions. Market-based interventions like surplus food platforms complement them by creating commercial incentives for businesses to reduce waste rather than relying solely on regulation.

The combination of policy and market mechanism is likely where meaningful long-term progress happens. Platforms like Last Bite cannot change the system alone, but they are a practical part of the solution.