The National Food Waste Summit returns on 24-25 July, bringing together the brightest minds and leaders committed to creating a more productive, sustainable, and resilient Australian food system by ending food waste and food insecurity. In the lead-up to the summit, Food & Drink Business is profiling some of the changemakers that will be on-hand at the summit’s Trade Show. This week we talk to Yume about how Australian manufacturers are slashing waste and boosting profits through food waste action.
In the face of rising inflation and shifting consumer demands, Australian food manufacturers are grappling with the challenge of balancing sustainability goals while maintaining profitability. However, Yume, an Australian start-up and social enterprise, is demonstrating that these objectives can complement each other. By transforming food waste into a revenue generating channel, Yume is creating a win-win situation for businesses and the planet.
Reducing food waste is a complex issue, often overwhelming for manufacturers who are focused on their core business operations. Recognising this, Yume sought to develop solutions that are simple to implement, deliver quick results, and provide both environmental and financial benefits.
In 2022, Yume launched an exploration program with leading manufacturers, uncovering that inefficient management of excess inventory is a major contributor to commercial food waste. These processes were largely unstandardised, manual, and led to manufacturers not receiving fair prices for their surplus products. This inefficiency resulted in products being sold at a loss or simply disposed of.
"Surplus products, whether from new product development, forecasting errors, or other inevitable processes, were being sold well below cost, sent to animal feed, or worse, disposed of entirely," explains Katy Barfield OAM, CEO of Yume. "This was not only a financial drain but a significant contributor to food waste."
Since then, Yume has successfully partnered with prominent Australian manufacturers, including Unilever, Mars Food & Nutrition, Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s), and Simplot, helping them achieve their sustainability targets.
Their track record is impressive: over $25 million returned to manufacturers, almost 9 million kilograms of food redistributed, and over 1.2 million meals donated to food rescue organisations. This effort has also saved 1.9 billion litres of embedded water and 33.74 million kilograms of CO2 from being wasted.
But their work is far from over. Katy emphasises the company’s commitment to innovate: "We knew from day one that to solve the food waste issue, we needed to innovate and work with our partners to find new solutions for our suppliers every day."
Yume's current offerings include commercialising finished excess inventory at scale. In addition, they have developed and tested several innovative solutions to tackle other causes of food waste:
- Preventing Excess Packaging and Ingredients Waste: Manufacturers often end up with surplus packaging and raw materials post product range reviews. Yume's platform leverages its extensive network of business buyers to pre-sell entire consignments, helping manufacturers recover revenue and reduce waste.
- Finding Commercial Solutions for Inventory with Incomplete Packaging: Yume's subscription users can now access a service that assists in selling finished products lacking outer packaging or having labelling inconsistencies. Manufacturers can prevent unnecessary waste by connecting with a specialised market through the Yume platform.
The promising results of these innovations indicate a strong market appetite for such products and a growing trend among manufacturers to exhaust all options before considering disposal.
If this article motivated you to start thinking about just how much food your company might be wasting, and how that might be affecting your bottom line – as well as your sustainability efforts, take this quick quiz to gain valuable insights into your current clearance processes and identify potential areas for improvement.
You can also speak to Yume at the National Food Waste Summit joining as part of the trade show.
For more information about Yume’s work, click here.
And for more information about the Summit and to register, click here.
