McKinsey Quarterly 2023 Number 1

tomato’s journey can be extrapolated to other fresh-produce categories. Tomatoes are grown and eaten all over the world, are available year-round, can be eaten fresh or go through further processing, must conform to certain cosmetic standards (color, shape, and so forth), and resemble several other produce categories with regard to perishability. We studied tomato journeys in both developed and developing markets—tomatoes sold fresh, those sent into the processed supply chain, those grown in fields, and those grown in developed-market greenhouses. Exhibit 2 illustrates what happens to tomatoes grown in fields in developed markets and sent to retailers to be sold fresh in their stores. As the exhibit shows, in developed countries, out of every 100 tomatoes, only 59 to 72 make it to a store shelf. In the developing world, the numbers are grimmer: only 35 to 58 make it to the store. At harvest, we estimate that one-third of the loss is linked to production surplus (the farm produced more food than it could sell), another third consists of food that is edible but doesn’t meet customer specifications, and the remaining third is because of damage that renders the food inedible. In short, two-thirds of the loss is edible and could be safely redirected to human consumption.

Q1 2023 Print Food Loss Exhibit 1 of 2

Exhibit 1 About half of global food loss and waste happens upstream, before products arrive at retailers’ stores or warehouses.

Global food loss and waste, by value chain step, ¹ % of total production

Upstream (food loss)

Downstream (food waste)

Total lost and wasted

6

100

5

16

Upstream

Harvest¹

5

After harvest² Processing

5

84

14

Downstream

9

Distribution

Consumption

70

Total food produced

Food remaining after upstream loss

Food remaining after loss and waste

¹Reported in primary crops for crops, carcass weight for meat, live weight equivalent for fish, and total production leaving manufacturer for processed commodities. ²Postharvest handling and storage. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; press search

Reducing food loss: What grocery retailers and manufacturers can do

107