Companies Innovate To Cut Food Waste In Japan
More businesses in Japan are introducing technology and services to reduce the amount of edible food that is wasted.
Major food delivery company Oisix ra daichi has started processing substandard shape vegetables and other foodstuffs at a facility near Tokyo.
Those vegetables that can be sold fresh are cut into pieces. The parts close to the peel or stalk are turned into ready-to-eat ingredients using the firm's proprietary technologies for heating or freezing them.
Oisix aims to reduce food waste by 1,000 tons annually in three years.
In another initiative, the Japan Department Stores Association is conducting trials to encourage restaurant customers to take home their leftovers.
Eateries at 18 department stores are taking part. One Chinese restaurant in Tokyo offers paper take-out cartons. So far, the service is used about 10 times a day by groups of guests.
Food waste is a major social problem in Japan. An estimated 5.2 million tons were dumped in fiscal 2020. That is 20 percent more than the total volume of food aid distributed by the UN World Food Programme in the same period.