Food Engineering logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • MEDIA
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest Headlines
  • Manufacturing News
  • People & Industry News
  • Plant Openings
  • Recalls
  • Regulatory Watch
  • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
  • New Plant Products
  • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
  • Alternative Protein
  • Automation
  • Cannabis
  • Cleaning | Sanitation
  • Fabulous Food Plants
  • Food Safety
  • Maintenance Strategies
  • OEE
  • Packaging
  • Sustainability
  • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • Plant Construction Survey
  • Plant of the Year
  • Sustainable Plant of the Year
  • State of Food Manufacturing
  • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • White Papers
  • EVENTS
  • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
  • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
  • eNewsletter
  • Custom Content & Marketing Services
  • FE Store
  • Government Links
  • Industry Associations
  • Market Research
  • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
  • eMagazine
  • Archive Issue
  • Advertise
Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
Sustainability

Sustainability

The challenges facing supermarkets of the future

As population grows and efficiency becomes more critical, supermarkets face unique challenges

By Bjorn Thumas
Supermarket of the future
April 9, 2019

Supermarkets of the near future will have their business models radically re-shaped by innovations instore, online, and in the food industry supply chain. These technologies will be deployed in the battle for customers but, more than this, can also benefit the planet.

This will be achieved by improving sustainability—a buzzword word widely over-used, but which really can mean something in supermarkets and the supply chain. Producing and selling food will become more environmentally responsible because sustainability and profitability both depend on the efficient use of resources.

The global population is forecast to increase from 7.6 billion to 10 billion people by 2050, and in many places food demand is already outstripping supply. To illustrate the rapid pace of change, agricultural demand today is 50% greater than it was just five years ago. This is placing enormous strain on agricultural resources because the land available for growing food is very limited. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, only 20% more land can be brought into productive use. Existing resources must be used more effectively to provide food for everyone and to ensure food supply for future generations.

In addition to these pressures, there is another challenge which must be tackled, and that’s food waste. Almost one-third of all the food produced worldwide is currently being wasted, amounting to approximately 1.3 billion tons of food rotting away or being thrown away every year. It is shocking to learn that waste accounts for around 45% of all fruit and vegetables and 20% of all meat. This is scandalous. Just one quarter of this wasted food could feed the 795 million chronically hungry people around the world. 

This also has commercial implications. According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), action to prevent food waste could save businesses €341 million a year. And there are clear indicators of where action needs to be taken. Some 54% of all this waste is lost in upstream processes, much resulting from inefficiencies in developing countries during harvesting, post-harvest handling, and processing. The other 46% is wasted in processing, distribution and consumption, with massive consumer-led waste in developed nations.

Recognizing these inefficiencies, the United Nations agreed in 2015 to reduce per capita food waste by half by 2030. This set a new precedent by including food loss and food waste reduction within the UN’s global development goals. Looking at the same issue, a European Parliament report—"Technology options for feeding 10 billion people"—stated that automating food processing lines with the right technology can improve sustainability in many ways, such as “optimizing product quality” and “reducing quality losses and defects, and decreasing energy and water consumption.” This affirms that there are good reasons for processors to reduce waste and, by doing so, reduce inefficiencies, lower overheads and increase profits.

As a leading provider of integrated post-harvest solutions to the global fresh produce industry, TOMRA Food is acutely aware of food waste and works closely with farmers, processors and retailers to tackle the issue. TOMRA’s experience around the world shows that more needs to be done to prevent so much “good product” being removed unnecessarily from the processing line because of inefficient sorting. TOMRA is continuously developing sustainable solutions with its customers and many other companies.

A quick win can be gained by optimizing the latest sensor-based sorting solutions. The potential here is considerable. Optimized sorting machines are capable of determining, for example, that 70% of a poor-looking crop is actually of good quality. This makes a huge difference: at the same time as meeting precisely defined quality standards, the majority of the product can be sold and consumed, feeding people and making profit, rather than consigning it to waste. Selling fruit or vegetables as a lower-grade of produce, or for a different processed product than originally intended, is far better than not selling it at all.

Waste can also be reduced through reverse sorting. Waste streams containing as little as 1% to 2% of good product are often discarded, but this is unnecessary. With the correct optical set-up, arrived at by the sorting machine manufacturer having a good understanding of the potential purposes of ‘side-streams,’ automated sorters can recover this waste. This is becoming common practice in the nut industry, making better use of natural food resources and simultaneously adding commercial value and profit.

For these profound reasons, sorting technology will play an increasingly important role in the supermarket of the future. And because the financial and ethical reasons for reducing food waste are urgent, that future needs to start right now!

About TOMRA Food

Bjorn Thumas is director, business development at TOMRA Food. TOMRA Food designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting machines and integrated post-harvest solutions for the food industry, using the world’s most advanced grading, sorting, peeling and analytical technology. TOMRA Food operates centers of excellence, regional offices and manufacturing locations within the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.

KEYWORDS: food loss and waste retail Supply Chain

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    With a CAGR of 12.07%, Bonafide Research estimates this...
    Latest headlines
  • skilled MEP worker

    Predicting Food and Beverage Manufacturing Trends for 2024

    The two words that should be kept in mind are labor and...
    Automation
    By: Derrick Teal
  • cleaning and sanitation

    The basics of cleaning and sanitation in food plants

    Sanitation maintains or restores a state of cleanliness...
    Food Safety
    By: Richard F. Stier
close

1 COMPLIMENTARY ARTICLE(S) LEFT

Loader

Already a Registered User? Sign in now.

Manage My Account
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Customer Service

Food Plant Openings and Expansions June 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions June 2025

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Shalima Sreenath

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Shalima Sreenath

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Samara Heaggans

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Samara Heaggans

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

More Videos

Popular Stories

Cargill Cocoa Plant

Cargill Invests in its Cocoa Supply Chain

Campbell’s Utah plant

Going for Gold(fish): Inside The Campbell’s Company’s $160M Cracker Plant Expansion

Woman engineer on construction site

Exploring the Impact of Women Engineers on the Food Industry

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ESSENTIAL TOPICS

Alternative ProteinAutomationCleaning/SanitationFabulous Food Plants

Food SafetyMaintenance StrategiesOEE

PackagingSustainability

Events

June 17, 2025

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ State of the Cold Chain

On Demand Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

July 23, 2025

Decarbonizing Process Heat: What You Should Know and Next Steps

Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

See More Products

Plant of the Year

Related Articles

  • Warehouse interior

    Designing the Automated Warehouse of the Future

    See More
  • International supply chains must give way to more sustainable, shorter local chains

    Building the future of sustainability in the food supply chain

    See More
  • GettyImages-1328823284 Andre Popov credit rsz.jpg

    How the pandemic is shaping the future of global fruit production in 2022

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • food-book.gif

    The 10 Principles of Food Industry Sustainability

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • September 29, 2011

    Food Plant of the Future: Anticipating the Next Generation

    On-Demand: Exclusively for thought-leaders in food and beverage processing facility management, Food Plant of the Future webinars are presented by Hixson, a leading design and engineering firm of food processing facilities in North America.
  • April 26, 2012

    Food Plant of the Future: Raising the Bar on Plant Air Quality

    On-Demand: Exclusively for thought-leaders in food and beverage processing facility management, Food Plant of the Future webinars are presented by Hixson, a leading design and engineering firm of food processing facilities in North America.
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Elevate your expertise in food engineering with unparalleled insights and connections.

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Food Master
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!