Conquering Food Waste in the Last Mile

Retailers turn produce shrink into a win for people, the planet and profits.

Shoppers who walk into the produce departments at Tops Friendly Markets, a 152-store chain headquartered in Williamsville, NY, will see staff culling fruit and vegetable displays to ensure the freshest produce is for sale. It’s a scene that plays out in supermarkets nationwide.

But Tops customers who look closely will see that produce staff have three boxes at the bottom of their carts. One is a “donate” box for removed items, like blemished apples, which may not have eye appeal, but are perfectly good for use by organizations like food banks. Two is the “recovery” box, where items, like stalks of celery with a few bad ribs, are trimmed, cleaned, and sold in-store as fresh-cut.

Third is the box for unsellable, un-donatable, and unrecoverable produce. Everything in this category, from whole items to trimmings, gets placed in a covered refrigerated bin in the back, ready for regular pickups by the compost company.

This spring, Jeff Cady, vice president of produce and floral at Northeast Grocery Inc., the Schenectady, NY-headquartered parent company of Tops, as well as Market 32 and Price Chopper banners, which collectively operate nearly 300 supermarkets across the Northeast, bought the compost and sold it for $5 a bag at retail locations with garden centers.

“Food waste, even though we donate, still counts as shrink, which for us averages 5.5% in produce. But it’s not thrown out. It doesn’t end up in a landfill. That’s important to us and to some customers.”

– Jeff Cady, Northeast Grocery, Inc., Schenectady, NY

“Food waste is an important factor and is something we try to minimize,” says Cady. “I would venture to say that by minimizing shrink, we’re helping to reduce food waste. Shrink is a huge focus at the store level. It’s something we look at from a financial perspective because it impacts profitability. If we’re buying something and throwing it out, we’re throwing out profitability.”

Produce represents the largest food category that is wasted, everything from never being harvested to spoiling in homes, according to the 2025 ReFED U.S. Food Waste Report, published by Chicago, IL-headquartered ReFED, an online hub for data and solutions to reduce food waste in the U.S.

The largest percentage of food waste in the field-to-fork supply chain is residential, totaling 35.2%. Next is farm level at 23.8%, followed by manufacturing (17.8%), foodservice (17.2%) and retail (6%).

SIX WAYS TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE AT RETAIL

Successfully minimizing produce food waste at retail requires a comprehensive soup-to-nuts approach.
“We follow the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy to ensure we minimize all food waste,” says Diane Hicks, senior vice president of operations for Giant Food, a 165-store chain based in Landover, MD. “We focus on sales first and continually check and rotate products to ensure they stay fresh. When a product does not meet our sales floor standards, but is wholesome, we donate it to our local food bank/recovery partners. If an item is inedible, we divert it through anaerobic digestion, and that is converted into renewable gas fueling homes within the grid.”

1 TRAIN & INCENTIVIZE EMPLOYEES

Training retail produce employees to reduce waste encompasses everything from teaching the basics of handling fresh fruits and vegetables to understanding the reasons behind in-store practices related to food recovery and rescue.

“We provide a comprehensive training program for our employees that covers both theoretical and practical aspects of product freshness, display management and handling best practices,” says Martha Hilton, vice president of produce and floral merchandising for Wegmans Food Markets, a 114-store chain headquartered in Rochester, NY. “This ensures that the importance of freshness is consistently reinforced throughout our company.”

Team members are more invested in food rescue and recycling efforts when they understand the “why,” according to Natasha Tofil, environmental compliance manager with Sprouts Farmers Market, a 464-store chain based in Phoenix, AZ.

“It’s not just about sorting food; it’s about helping a local farmer feed their animals or restoring nutrients to the soil. When you connect the dots for them, they’re fired up to do the right thing. Education is the most powerful incentive.”

Preventing food waste is part of a retail culture driven from the top down.

“A key factor in our success is the investment in strong produce department leadership who actively mentor and train their teams, ensuring that members are informed and engaged in our robust suite of waste reduction and diversion initiatives,” says Yvette Waters, MS, RDN, senior manager of nutrition and sustainability at the West Sacramento, CA-based The Raley’s Companies.

Raley’s operates 237 locations under the Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods, Raley’s O-N-E Market, Bashas’, Food City, AJ’s Full Circle, Farm Fresh to You and Fieldera banners.

“To support this, we have developed comprehensive onboarding and learning programs, including computer-based training (CBT) modules, to provide ongoing education for our teams.”

2 DIAL-IN ORDERING & DELIVERY

Overordering is one of the most significant causes of food waste at retail, says Andrew Harig, vice president of tax, trade, sustainability, and policy development at FMI, The Food Industry Association (FMI), in Arlington, VA.

“The challenge is that our research shows shoppers respond well to a full display rather than one half full of picked-over product,” Harig notes. “At the same time, retailers must be prepared for demand spikes around holidays or events, as well as declines when customers go on vacation and shop less. It’s important to strike a balance.”

Data analytics are improving significantly, thanks to AI learning that helps recognize patterns, Harig adds. “While there’s a certain amount of art in ordering, the analytic aspect is becoming more important.”

Advanced forecasting tools are one of several food waste prevention systems implemented by the Albertsons Companies. “These optimize ordering and production,” says Melissa Kral, Albertsons director of sustainability.

The Boise, ID-based retailer operates 2,270 stores under over 20 banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Haggen, Kings Food Markets and Acme.

Some of the largest retailers in the U.S. and globally are looking upstream for solutions, recognizing that better forecasting, communication, and handling at the wholesale level can improve shrink in-store, says Stevie Shandler, director of growth and sustainability at Shapiro-Gilman-Shandler Co., in Los Angeles, CA.

“From a wholesale perspective, we help address this by sharing real-time quality updates and photos so buyers can align orders with current product conditions; offering flexible pack sizes or mixed pallets to reduce overstock; communicating clearly about product shelf life, ripeness and regional preferences; supporting ad planning with data on peak freshness and anticipated transitions; and understanding our customers’ consumer base and overall needs.”

Once ordered, delivery to stores can swell the potential for shrink.

“We place significant emphasis on maintaining product freshness by efficiently coordinating daily shipments to stores from our three dedicated distribution facilities,” says Wegmans Food Markets’ Hilton.

3 BUILD BIG, LOW-SHRINK DISPLAYS

Planning is the first key in building a profitable and sustainable display, according to Brian Dey, retail and merchandising innovation manager for Four Seasons Produce, in Ephrata, PA.

Dey says first, define what you want to promote. Is it highly perishable like berries or stone fruit? Relatively lower risk items include melons or apples, as well as commodities like mangos, avocados and bananas, which ripen while on display when exposed to warmth and ethylene.

Second, determine display size by considering product availability, price, value, quality and seasonality. Is it an ad item, a promotional opportunity, or maybe giving a new item a bit more exposure?

The easiest way to give products more presence and mass on displays, with shrink control in mind, is to utilize a false bottom or lift. In other words, “dummying up,” says Dey. “Of course, it is always super important to cull and rotate for freshness, or you will most certainly incur shrink.”

4 USE FRESH PRODUCE IN-HOUSE AS AN INGREDIENT

Some retailers allow their in-store chefs to shop for ingredients from the produce department.

“It sounds obvious, but many retailers have a separate ordering system for fruits and vegetables used in their prepared foods,” says FMI’s Harig. “There needs to be a level of flexibility in adjusting the recipes with this, too. For example, one day there might be a little more celery in the deli chicken salad.”

Ideal for this cross-department use is “imperfect” or “ugly” produce.

“There is a growing awareness of normalizing the consumption of produce that doesn’t meet conventional cosmetic standards.”

– Tamara Muruetagoiena, International Fresh Produce Association, Washington, D.C.

Retailers can merchandise these items creatively or incorporate them into value-added products, like pre-cut or blended items,” says Tamara Muruetagoiena, vice president of sustainability for the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA), in Washington, DC. “At the same time, chefs can use them in dishes where appearance is less critical, such as soups, sauces, smoothies and purees.”

DONATE, DONATE

Food donation is a huge part of how supermarket retailers prevent edible food from going to waste in landfills. Wasted food is responsible for 58% of landfill methane emissions to the atmosphere, according to the October 2023-released report, Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.

“Through our Good Together food donation program, associates gather perishable food that is no longer saleable but still safe for consumption and donate those items to Feeding America partner food banks and other non-profit organizations,” says Hannah Herring, media relations manager for Publix Super Markets, a 1,377-store chain headquartered in Lakeland, FL.

She says these items include bakery and dairy products, meat, deli and prepared foods, as well as produce. “Since 2009, we’ve donated more than 1 billion pounds of food through this initiative, and we continue to expand the program to ensure we are donating all the food we can safely and responsibly.”

Sprouts Farmers Market has an exceptionally robust food rescue program.

“We partner with over 600 food banks and nonprofits nationwide and donated more than 35 million pounds of food last year alone,” says Tofil. “Thanks to our produce team members nationwide, 50% of all Sprouts food donations are produce.”

Albertsons’ banners empower stores to partner with local food recovery organizations. A good example of this is the partnership between Acme Markets, a 159-store chain in Malvern, PA, and Philabundance, the largest food bank in the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley regions of Pennsylvania.

“We partner with hundreds of retail grocery locations in our service territory to rescue produce, along with several other categories, to get the food to our community partners the same day it is rescued from the store,” says Lauren Webb, chief food sourcing officer for the Philadelphia, PA-based non-profit.
For produce, at least 80% of the product must be usable. If the store has a clamshell of strawberries or a 5-pound bag of apples with 20% or less of unusable product, they can donate it.

In fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the food bank rescued more than 34 million pounds of food from retail grocery locations, with almost 30% of that as produce. In addition to Acme Markets, Giant, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Wegman’s, Aldi, ShopRite, Target, and Walmart stores in the region also partner with Philabundance.

DIVERT FROM LANDFILLS

Raley’s has maintained a dedicated food waste diversion program for many years. “This initiative enables us to redirect unsold produce through partnerships with food recovery organizations, anaerobic digester facilities,” says Waters.

Giant Food is one of several major U.S. retailers nationwide that work with Divert, Inc. This Concord, MA-headquartered company leverages data to prevent waste, facilitate edible food recovery, and transform unsold food products into renewable energy to power communities.

“Divert bins are staged at our D.C. and transported to stores,” explains Hicks. “Food that can’t be sold or donated is placed in a bin to be diverted. The divert bin is meant to be the last resort. When the bins are full, they are backhauled to our D.C. and consolidated for pickup.”

Divert works closely with its retail customers and their stores to implement custom prevention, diversion, and donation strategies, according to Ben Kuethe Oaks, vice president and general manager of retail.

Oaks offers an example of Divert’s work with Fred Meyer Stores, a 132-store Portland, OR-based subsidiary of The Kroger Co. In 2024, the program prevented more than 5.4 million pounds of unsold food products from reaching the landfill. 

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Three Ways to Reduce Produce Waste in Foodservice

Sustainability and local sourcing ranked No. 1 in the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) What’s Hot Culinary Forecast for 2025, reflecting consumers’ big-picture priorities.

The average foodservice kitchen wastes 5 to 15% of its food purchases, according to Sam Smith, senior director of marketing for Leanpath, a Beaverton, OR-based company that offers food waste prevention technology for the foodservice industry.

1 REDUCE OVER-PREPARATION

One of the most common reasons for fresh produce food waste in foodservice is over-preparation, says Jeffrey Clark, expert exchange director of food safety and quality assurance, nutrition, and sustainability for the Washington, D.C.-headquartered NRA.

Strategies for reducing overproduction, Smith says, “include ensuring production sheets are in place and updated to address the overproduction identified and having an A, B, and C plan for every ingredient. A is the intended use for the ingredient, B is a secondary use, and C is preserving the ingredient.”

2 TRIM TRIM

Training new and existing back-of-house employees on how to cut and peel produce to maximize yields properly takes time, thus hourly wages, says Deena Ensworth, senior content manager for the Markon Cooperative Inc., based in Salinas, CA. “This also often results in much of the commodity product being wasted and ending up in the garbage instead of being used. By skipping this step with Ready-Set-Serve items, especially for core commodities like onions, celery, and lettuces, operators can take ingredients from the bag to the pan or plate.”

3 REPURPOSE WITH PURPOSE

Repurposing means turning overproduced food, like food scraps and leftovers, into new, appealing dishes, using typically wasted edible parts.

This practice was the subject of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Menus of Change University Research Collaborative’s (MCURC) Repurpose with a Purpose project, a 12-week research sprint among 40 MCURC member institutions. Results showed that in one month, nearly $20,000 in food costs, 21,000 gallons of water, and 545,000 tons of carbon emissions were reduced, while staff morale improved.

“Repurpose with a Purpose research uncovered a myriad of opportunities for operations of various types and sizes to incorporate repurposing in ways that best fit their needs,” says Abby Fammartino, MSFS, MBA, director of health and sustainability programs and research at the CIA, in Hyde Park, NY, and co-chair for the MCURC.

“The hope is for organizations to gain inspiration and practical ways of repurposing in their kitchens,” says Matthew Ward, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and executive chef of residential dining at the University of North Texas, in Denton, TX. “Minimizing waste isn’t just a sustainability effort; it’s a critical part of running a financially sound and creatively driven kitchen.”

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Five Ways the Produce Industry Can Help Retailers Reduce Waste

1 Prioritize Responsible Sourcing & Maintain Stringent Quality Assurance Standards. “Ensuring that produce consistently meets high-quality expectations at the outset minimizes the likelihood of rejection at the retail or consumer level, thereby reducing waste before it reaches the store,” says Yvette Waters, MS, RDN, senior manager of nutrition and sustainability at the West Sacramento, CA-based The Raley’s Companies, which operates 237 locations under several well-known brands.

2 Offer Flexible Digitalized Ordering. Ninety percent of the fresh produce industry is offline, says Christine Moseley, founder and chief executive officer of Full Harvest, a San Francisco, CA-based B2B produce marketplace that connects commercial produce buyers, such as retailers, directly to farms nationwide to purchase all grades of produce, including surplus and imperfect produce.

“Instead of sending out quote requests for 30 items to a dozen companies, retailers can go online and find availability from 12,000-plus suppliers. If it’s direct from the farm, not sitting in a warehouse for extra days, it’s fresher, and that prevents waste in-store. Food waste prevention is all about a business’s efficiency and its bottom line.”

3 Consider Greater Contract Procurement. It’s all about matching supply and demand, says Jeff Cady, vice president of produce and floral at Northeast Grocery Inc., the Schenectady, NY-headquartered parent company of nearly 300 Market 32, Price Chopper, and Tops Friendly Markets.

“If you’re contracting with a supplier, which means you are committing to a quantity and sharing your demand information with them. I believe if we continue to improve our information sharing, it will help farmers and the entire supply chain minimize food waste.”

Contracting can also help take the highs and lows out of the business, which can also minimize waste, Cady adds.

4 Rethink Packaging. “Reducing or eliminating wax-coated cardboard — an industry standard that’s hard to recycle — is essential if we’re serious about achieving zero waste,” says Natasha Tofil, environmental compliance manager with Sprouts Farmers Market, a 464-store chain based in Phoenix, AZ.

5 Open Supplier-Chef Conversations. When produce partners maintain open lines of communication and actively collaborate with chefs, there’s significant potential to improve how shelf life and storage best practices are understood and applied, according to Matthew Ward, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and executive chef of residential dining at the University of North Texas, Denton, TX.

“This partnership can lead to fresher, longer-lasting produce at the point of service. Equally important is creating opportunities for chefs and frontline team members to visit farms and production facilities.”PB