Capgemini and CGF Target Food Waste in Supply Chain Reform

Reducing food waste is no longer just a sustainability target—it is emerging as a strategic lever for business value across the supply chain. 

Capgemini and The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) are working together to reshape the way businesses address food loss, focusing on how organisations can extract economic and environmental gains through coordinated action.

According to CGF, around 1.3bn tonnes of edible food are wasted annually, resulting in US$940bn in economic loss and contributes 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

The Food Waste Coalition of Action

Capgemini argues that the current volume of loss offers an opportunity for recovery – if businesses rethink the way waste is handled across the supply chain.

In response, Capgemini and CGF have launched the Food Waste Coalition of Action, which includes 20 global brands and retailers such as Tesco, Nestlé and Coca-Cola, all working to address supply chain inefficiencies and reduce systemic waste. 

The coalition's aim is to eliminate waste by design—not only reducing what can be avoided, but transforming supply chain operations to prevent it entirely.

Sharon Bligh, Director for Health & Sustainability at CGF, explains: "We’re seeing a shift in mindset. Waste is no longer just a cost to minimise, but a resource to optimise.

“Our coalition is moving from simply reducing avoidable food waste to designing waste out of the system entirely enabling value creation at every stage.”

Targeting structural issues

The coalition's work starts by challenging three core barriers identified in the supply chain:

• The culture of abundance – businesses often overproduce or overstock to meet consumer demand for constant availability and product perfection, which normalises waste as part of doing business. 
• A misaligned focus – many businesses concentrate only on direct operations, instead of tackling transformation across the full supply chain. 
• Fragmented value chain – when manufacturers, suppliers and retailers work in silos, data sharing, reverse logistics and repurposing efforts are inefficient.

Capgemini is approaching these problems by mapping where and how waste enters the system.

Kees Jacobs, Vice President, Consumer Goods and Retail at Capgemini, says: “Through our work with the Consumer Goods Forum and the Food Waste Coalition for Action, we’re pinpointing the business processes that drive loss and waste across the value chain. 

“We are laying the groundwork for a transformation that is not limited to the areas under the control of manufacturers and retailers, but truly systemic.”

Capgemini and CGF suggest companies begin by integrating food waste into operational and sustainability planning.

Establishing data foundations allows for real-time visibility into food flows and waste points, enabling more accurate forecasting, waste intervention and evaluation of new technologies.

The group also advises companies to adopt circular economy principles, which includes practices like upcycling—turning food waste into new consumer products—or converting animal by-products into feed. 

Beyond reuse, it also requires training internal teams and strengthening external partnerships, particularly with suppliers engaged in regenerative agriculture, which can reduce waste upstream in production.

Long-term collaboration

CGF’s broader ambition is to create systemic change by encouraging shared accountability between stakeholders across the consumer goods supply chain. 

The forum is also involved in other initiatives, including eradicating forced labour and advancing worker rights across palm oil supply chains through its People Positive Palm Project.

Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director of CGF, underscores the long-term nature of these efforts: “Weathering short-term challenges cannot distract leaders from delivering long-term value to their companies and to people and the planet.

“As the group of CEOs set out in this report, success depends not only on how leaders work in their companies but also how they work with others across the industry. 

“No organisation can overcome the many challenges they face today alone. Systemic solutions can only be created through collective action and this ethos is core to how the CGF operates.”

The Food Waste Coalition is still in early stages, but its strategy is clear. By prioritising waste reduction at every touchpoint—production, distribution, retail and consumer engagement—it aims to establish food waste as a measurable, manageable and value-driven component of the supply chain.