The challenge of not wasting food and its solutions

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The Bankinter Innovation Foundation’s Future Trends Forum report on “Smart Agriculture: the challenge of sustainable food” addresses the urgent need to feed a global population projected to reach 10 billion by 2050 amid energy, climate, and water crises. A major focus is reducing food waste, which annually amounts to 1.3 billion tons worldwide, contributing 8-10% of agri-food sector CO2 emissions and costing around one trillion euros. The United Nations has integrated food waste reduction into its Sustainable Development Goals. Significant losses occur across the supply chain, with only 10 out of every 19 fruits and vegetables produced actually consumed. Beyond changing consumer habits, the report emphasizes adopting resource-efficient agricultural practices, including circular economy principles, precision, and regenerative agriculture.

Technological innovation plays a critical role in this transformation. Advanced traceability systems using blockchain and IoT sensors enable real-time monitoring of food’s origin, working conditions, and environmental impact, fostering transparency and ethical practices. Artificial intelligence applied to precision agriculture can boost crop yields by up to 20% and reduce water use by 30%, while optimizing supply chain management to minimize waste. Packaging also represents a strategic area for sustainability, with innovations like active and smart packaging extending shelf life and reducing plastic pollution. Companies such as APTAR are developing technologies like InvisiShield™ and SEAWELL to enhance food safety and longevity, aiming to scale these solutions for widespread adoption and greater environmental impact.

Advanced technologies play a crucial role in reducing food waste, a global problem that contributes significantly to CO2 emissions.

The A report by the Bankinter Innovation Foundation’s Future Trends Forum dedicated to the theme of ‘Smart Agriculture: the challenge of sustainable food‘ attempts to address possible solutions to the need to feed a world population that is expected to reach 10,000 million by 2050. With enormous challenges such as the energy, climate and water resources crises, one of the priorities is to reduce food waste, a problem with severe economic, environmental and social implications that foodtech is trying to solve.

Every year in the world, 1,300 million tons of food are wasted; if theCO2 emissions generated by the agri-food macro chain represent 21 to 37% of the total, 8-10% of these are attributable to uneaten food, with an expenditure to produce it that is around one trillion euros. The UN has also taken charge of the fight against food waste, including it in its Sustainable Development Goals.

Out of every 19 pieces of fruit and vegetables produced, only 10 are consumed, with losses at different stages of the supply chain. It is clear that consumer habits must change, but this is not enough, agriculture must adopt new practices of efficiency in the use of resources, both natural and energy. The application of the The circular economy in its entirety, as well as precision and regenerative agriculture, can make a difference, along with new production paradigms adopted by the entire industry.

In this joint task, technologies open up new perspectives. In the face of global challenges such as deforestation, child labour and resource inefficiency, advanced traceability systems offer an innovative solution for monitoring and managing the environmental and social impacts of food production. Thanks to tools such as blockchain and IoT sensors, the journey of food from its origin to the consumer can be followed, collecting real-time data on the origin of products, working conditions and environmental impacts throughout the supply chain.

Greater transparency encourages more ethical and greener practices, as well as helping to identify inefficiencies and reduce waste. In this sense, the independent consultant Julie Sigles considers traceability as “a comprehensive strategy that can lead the food industry towards a greener and fairer future”.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence (AI) applied to precision agriculture can increase crop production by up to 20% and reduce water use by 30%, optimizing inventory levels in real time and preventing overstocking or understocking. AI can also predict the shelf life of a product, and thus speed up or delay its commercialization so that it arrives in optimal conditions at its destination. The result is more efficient production, which maximizes yields and minimizes waste of resources and food.

Another strategic front to offer sustainable solutions in the food sector is packaging, given that 40% of the plastics produced are used to package food and beverages, which contributes significantly to environmental pollution. Experts participating in the Future Trends Forum proposed innovative solutions such as active and smart packaging that extends the shelf life of food and reduces waste.

Here, too, technology comes into play to offer new possibilities. The US company APTAR, for example, is working on the development of active packaging and anti-pathogen solutions, taking advantage of the potential of technologies such as InvisiShield™ and SEAWELL. Applying this innovation improves the safety and quality of food, contributes significantly to the extension of its shelf life and, therefore, favors the reduction of food waste. The challenge is to refine and scale solutions like these so that they become widespread.