FEATURE
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Smarter supermarkets will
reduce food waste in SA
By Danfoss
By focusing on sustainability throughout the entire value chain, especially in the retail link, food
waste is minimised, productivity increased, and the impact on climate change reduced, moving
towards better food security for all.
F
ood wastage is a global problem.
Roughly a third of all the food
produced for human consumption
around the world is lost or wasted,
according to estimates from the Food
and Agriculture Organisation of the
United Nations (FAO). If just a fourth of this
food could be saved, the report states, it
could feed 870 million people.
The United Nations has recognised this
as a serious concern and has developed
17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), including Zero Hunger, which
aims to end world hunger by 2030,
and Responsible Consumption and
Production, which commits to halving per
capita global food waste and reducing
food loss by 2030. The global community
has agreed to adopt these goals to “end
poverty, protect the planet, and ensure
prosperity for all”.
In developing countries such as
South Africa, the FAO estimates that
the direct economic consequence of
food loss and waste is roughly USD310-
billion. In addition, resources including
water, land, energy, labour, and capital
are squandered, and unnecessary
greenhouse gas emissions are produced,
contributing to global warming and
climate change.
FOOD VALUE CHAIN
Food loss is the result of inefficient food
systems, with waste occurring along
the entire food supply chain, from farm
to fork. By focusing on sustainability,
from agriculture to transport, storage,
production, and point of sale, you lower
food loss and waste, increase productivity,
preserve the ecosystem, reduce the
impact on climate change, and move
towards better food security for all —
helping to achieve the UN’s SDGs.
So, what can be done?
Global companies such as Danfoss
invest a lot of time and money in
engineering technologies focused on
climate- and energy-efficient solutions.
They are committed to the SDGs for
Responsible Consumption and Production,
by setting better cold chains as a target.
As such, the company has developed
and implemented cloud-based solutions
around the world, that seamlessly monitor
the food temperature at every stage
of the cold chain, with the objective
of reducing food waste, which causes
greenhouse gas emissions.
MAKING SUPERMARKETS SMARTER
“With our long history in the HVAC
industry and through a 30-year
collaboration with a community
of global food retailers, we have
developed an integrated retail solution
called the Smart Store, with the aim
of cutting the food loss and wastage
that occurs at the retail level,” explains
Roy Naidoo, refrigeration and air
conditioning area sales manager of
Danfoss sub-Saharan Africa. “We believe
that the Smart Store solution is the
supermarket of tomorrow, integrating
control of refrigeration, HVAC, lighting,
and other applications, to enhance