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Preventing bread waste

- A national success story from Turkey

Feature

from the

2015

by Professor M. Hikmet Boyacioglu,

Chairman of the Department of
Food Engineering at Okan University,
Istanbul, Turkey

ne-third of food produced for

human consumption is lost or
wasted globally, which amounts
to about 1.3 billion tons per year.
Food is lost or wasted throughout
the supply chain, from initial
agricultural production down to
final household consumption.
Food losses represent a waste of
resources used in production such as land, water, energy and
inputs, increasing the green gas emissions in vain.
According to Euromonitor International, globally 141 million
tons of baked goods are sold each year and bread represents by
far the most significant proportion of total baked goods sales, at
over 85 percent, with retail volume sales of 120 million tons in
2013 which results in inevitable waste. Since there is no clear
definition of food waste, it is difficult to estimate global bread
waste although there is the need to minimise bread waste at all
points along the chain.

Food loss, food waste and food wastage

Food loss refers to a decrease in mass (dry matter) or nutritional

value (quality) of food that was originally intended for human
consumption. These losses are mainly caused by inefficiencies
in the food supply chains, such as poor infrastructure and
logistics, lack of technology, insufficient skills, knowledge and
management capacity of supply chain actors, and lack of access
to markets.
In addition, natural disasters play a role. Food waste refers
to food appropriate for human consumption being discarded,
whether or not after it is kept beyond its expiry date or left to
spoil. Often this is because food has spoiled but it can be for
other reasons such as oversupply due to markets, or individual
consumer shopping/eating habits. Food wastage refers to any
food lost by deterioration or waste. Thus, the term wastage
encompasses both food loss and food waste.

Food waste causes and scale

Food losses mainly occur at the beginning of the supply chain;

during production, storage, transport, wholesale and processing
44 | Milling and Grain

while food waste mainly occurs at the end of the food supply
chain; in the store, at restaurants as well as at home. Possible
causes of food waste are summarised in Table I.
Food losses and waste amounts to roughly US$ 680 billion
in industrialised countries and US$ 310 billion in developing
countries. Industrialised and developing countries dissipate
roughly the same quantities of food -respectively 670 and 630
million tons. Per capita waste by consumers is between 95-115
kg a year in Europe and North America, while consumers in subSaharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia, each throw away
only 6-11 kg a year (Figure 2).
The total amount of food waste in the European Union is about
90 million tons per year or 180 kg per capita per year excluding
agricultural food waste and fish discards. The European
Commission is referring to this as an unacceptable example of
unsustainability estimating that by 2020 without any effective
measures 126 million tons food will probably be wasted per year.
Almost 50 percent of edible and healthy food gets wasted in EU
households and supermarkets each year.
Food waste is expected to rise to about 126 million tons by
2020 without additional prevention policy or activities.
According to Rabobank, the European Food & Agribusiness
(F&A) industry is currently losing 60 billion Euros of value each
year through food that is wasted in the supply chain and never
reaches the consumer.
In spite of above information on food wastage, figures on the
exact amount of food waste in the manufacturing sector remain
heavily debated due to lack of a clear definition of food waste,
lack of proper data collection and methodological issues, such as
diverse and not consequent interpretation of by-products.

Global bread production and trends

According to Euromonitor International, globally 141 million

tons of baked goods are sold each year and bread represents by
far the most significant proportion of total baked goods sales, at
over 85 percent, with retail volume sales of 120 million tons in
2013.
Bread sales registered a decline over 2008-2013. The decline in
bread volumes is primarily due to the fall in artisanal bread sales,
which accounted for 78 percent of overall bread volume sales

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in 2013. Packaged bread was one of the best performing baked
goods categories over 2008-2013, growing by two million tons
and taking a considerable share from artisanal bread.

Bread wastage volumes

Since there is no clear definition of food waste, it is difficult

to estimate global bread waste although there is the need to
minimise bread waste at all points along the chain.
Pietrzak and Kawa-Rygielska indicated that annual global
production of bread exceeds 100 million tones, and estimated
wastage for bakery goods is about 7 - 10 percent so the annual
production of wastes in this industry can reach 10 million tones
worldwide. The major factor for waste formation in this field
is that part of the bread produced is left unsold and returned to
the bakery due to significant levels of staling and large amounts
of bakery products which are produced in excess to fulfill
consumers demands.
According to GIRA, 25 percent of bread products in highincome countries are wasted at retail and consumer level, during
storage and processing.
According to the Association Internationale de la Boulangerie
Industrielle (AIBI) the major International Association of Plant
Bakeries, products at baking plants which cannot be sold are less
than 1 percent. Almost all of this material is used as animal feed
or as bioenergy.
Stale bread loses its sensory qualities. This results in a negative
perception from the consumer even though the product is still
healthy and rich in nutrients. Consequently, large quantities of
bread are discarded which causes an important economic loss
and makes waste bread a major component of the food waste
problem.

Prevention of bread waste

In view of more efficient supply chains with high productivity

to meet the growing demand, one of the challenges for agriculture
is to reduce food loss and waste along the food chain. Reducing
food losses and waste is gathering increasing global interest
and action. Governments, research institutions, producers,
distributors, retailers and consumers have all different ideas about
the problem the solutions and the ability to change.
AIBI has already started to inform and to highlight the
importance of this issue and to raise awareness among members.
It is a priority on the agenda of the AIBI Board and AIBI
members are willing to participate to reduce food waste in the
bakery chain.
Food waste in the United States represents a market opportunity
worth over $160 billion for innovators who can reduce this
waste and its impact. Food waste, which is estimated at 30
percent to 40 percent of the annual food supply in the United
States, has far-reaching social, economic, and environmental
ramifications. It also adds up to big money and big incentives to
food technologists to develop new approaches and products for
reducing, recovering, and recycling food waste. A closer look at
food waste in the United States reveals where opportunities might
lie.
According to Rabobank s latest report, it is vital that the
industry looks to address the issue and F&A companies have
much to gain themselves from doing so. Rabobank sees
innovation as the most effective means of making an immediate
difference to reducing waste.
However, for it to be successful, optimisation of supply chain
processes and business models may be required. Rabobank
suggests food processors and retailers should start to select

August 2015 | 45

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partners who see the benefit in reducing waste and have the
potential to benefit from the additional effects on the supply
chain. Nevertheless, companies should realise that innovation
is not for all partners, but an asset that will attract like-minded
companies and markets to becoming supply chain partners.
Bread staling continues to be responsible for huge food wastes
all over the world. The phenomenon is still far from being
fully elucidated. Despite new measurement techniques, such
as NIRS, NMR, and X-ray, which give novel and interesting
details on bread firming and also evidence of their importance
as complementary tools to traditional measurement techniques,
the real challenge still remains the knowledge of the precise
mechanism(s) of staling. Further efforts must be exerted
to explore and exploit the power of novel technologies in
bread processing, particularly the nonthermal technologies
(high hydrostatic pressure, ultrasound processing, pulse-light
technology, and others), and their effects on the retardation of
bread staling.
Whereas the points on avoiding food waste during processing
are relevant to all food and drink manufacturers, possible
solutions to reduce bread waste is cited in Table II.
However, during efforts to reduce bread waste constraints could
arise from legislation (e.g. requirement to sell bread at specific
weights) and cultural and standardisation constraints (consumers
traditionally buy specific types/weights of bread). The product
is offered in too big portions or the consumer makes impulse
purchases (people may be attracted to buy more than they can
eat). There are financial constraints through a lack of investments
and innovation by industry.

Turkeys success story

According to Euromonitor International, bread sales reached

9.261.600 ton in 2014 (Table III). Turkey has one of the highest
per capita bread consumption rates in the world although
available consumption figures vary between 72 kg to 199.6
kg. Based on Turkish Grain Board study, 121 kg/person bread
consumption in 2008 was reduced to 116 kg in 2012 in Turkey.
In 2013; The Turkish Grain Board, a subsidiary organisation
of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, launched a
new campaign called Ekmegini Israf Etme (Dont Waste your
Bread) which works to curb the amount of waste bread in Turkey
through educational activities with regard to consumption of
bread. The majority of consumers however still give prominence
to the warmness and freshness of the bread while it is still a small
group that gives prominence to whether the bread is wholegrain.
Additionally, leading packaged/industrial bread producers have
been utilising this campaign by indicating that the consumption
of packaged/industrial bread is a good way to alleviate the waste
bread problem as these products can be re-heated and consumed
for a long time.
From 1 July 2013, a new flour notice became effective which
also aims to increase the consumption of whole grain bread while
decreasing the amount of waste bread. Furthermore, the lowest
weight for regular bread was decreased from 300g to 250g. This
new weight reduction also aims to curb the waste bread problem
and negatively affects the volume sales of unpackaged/artisanal
bread. Last but not least, the new regulation prohibits the sales
of unpackaged/artisanal bread in open spaces such as bazaars,
butchers and green grocers.
The general trend in baked goods is higher growth rates for
packaged/industrial categories. The main reason for this trend is
the changing eating habits of Turkish consumers.
Companies within packaged/industrial bread will increasingly
promote the Dont Waste Your Bread campaign by indicating
46 | Milling and Grain

that packaged bread consumption is an effective way to alleviate

the waste bread problem.
The Turkish Grain Board, conducted research in 2008 and 2012
on the production, consumption habits and waste of bread in
Turkey. The results of these studies were alarming, because they
showed that the bread waste in Turkey reached serious amounts.
As a consequence, a campaign was launched in January 2013 to
inform and raise societys awareness of bread waste. The aims
of the campaign are to create public awareness, prevent waste
in bread production and consumption, ensure bread is bought as
needed and preserved properly, inform society on different ways
of using stale bread and contribute to the economy by preventing
waste.
At the end of 2013, the Turkish Grain Board carried out
another study in order to evaluate the impact of the campaign on
bread waste and consumption habits. The research results show
that, between 2012 and 2013, daily bread waste in the country
decreased by 18 percent from 5.95 million to 4.9 million loaves
saving a total of 384 million loaves of bread.
On a per capita basis, these improvements resulted in a 19
percent decrease in daily bread waste to 16.2 grams. Furthermore,
the campaign resulted in a 10 percent decrease in the daily total
bread production and consumption. Based on calculations by
the Turkish Grain Board, reducing bread waste saved USD 159
million and reducing unnecessary bread purchases saved USD 1.3
billion, for a total savings of USD 1.5 billion.
The bread waste campaign included a media campaign with
estimated advertisement costs of USD 243 million, three
spread on internet, TV commercials, newscasts, newspaper
articles, a research book about bread waste, a stale bread recipe
book and various brochures. Several conferences, exhibitions,
press meetings, stale bread recipe competitions etc., have
been organised with the co-operation of the universities,
non-governmental organisations, the private sector and local
administrators and reached all parts of the Turkish society.
As Turkey wastes less bread, it also saves more money.
According to the Turkish Grain Board, reducing unnecessary
waste and excess purchases saved consumers an estimated US$
1.2 billion in 2013.
To expand on early successes, Turkish Grain Board recently
partnered with the Turkish postal service to release 100 000
commemorative stamps introducing the campaign and its
message to a wider national audience. Further demonstrating that
the country is serious about the issue, the Government of Turkey
is including food waste prevention a priority in its national
development plan through 2018.
With one-third of global food production currently wasted
or lost, the international community is homing in on Turkeys
success. The Grain Board has shared its campaign model as a
best practice, exchanging experiences with the United Kingdoms
Waste and Resources Action Program and with governments
across Europe and Central Asia at last years FAO Regional
Conference for Europe.

Final thoughts

Bread is the healthy basis of every day meals all over Europe.
The importance of bread is shown through the huge daily global
consumption, which results in inevitable waste. There is the need
to minimise food waste at all points along the food chain.
Among many possible solutions; extended shelf life of bread by
natural ingredients and food safety measures, increase in bake-off
production, shift from artisanal to packaged bread and raising
awareness and information to the consumers will be utmost
importance in prevention of bread waste.