Curiously, at the consumer level is where the greatest amount of waste is generated, representing approximately 30% of what is purchased according to research, that is, 3 out of every 10 pesos spent on food end up becoming garbage. It seems exaggerated, but if the consumer reflects on his meals from a few days ago – the piece of bread or tortilla that he left on the plate; the tomato, banana, strawberries or grapes that went bad; leftover soup, pasta, meat, or pizza; the food forgotten in a dish the refrigerator; or the small sips of coffee, milk or juice left in the glass and ending up in the sink or the remains on the plate at the restaurant… It doesn’t seem so crazy anymore, right?
Now, what does this topic have to do with business? It has everything to do with it. Fortunately, Mexico is a country of abundant agriculture and livestock, so we have access to a wide variety of products at low prices compared to other countries that, due to their geographical conditions, import a large part of what they consume. However, the law of supply and demand also applies, so wasting less food could increase its availability to more people, systemically lower prices and also reduce its environmental impact.
Food waste is also associated with over-buying and improvable planning by consumers, with the added irony that in other socioeconomic strata there are food shortages and food insecurity. It is not about the difference between first world countries versus developing countries. To a greater or lesser extent, in all countries there is food insecurity, which could be solved in a certain way with a more rational consumption by the population that has the privilege of being able to buy what they want and decide to consume.
The purchase of food works with the logic of any other model of inventories in which we combine frequency and quantity. Said colloquially: you decide if you go once a month to buy your groceries and buy a lot to cover your needs that month, or if you go once a week and buy less because your frequency allows you to buy for fewer days. There is no better decision than another, there are only optimal decisions and, in this case, the optimal is to reduce food waste.
What can we do as a society? First of all: raise awareness. The starting point is that we realize the waste that we generate at an individual level: with what type of food do we generate more waste? When does it happen, during the week or on the weekend? Where does it happen most frequently, when we cook at home, we order in delivery or in restaurants?