WASHINGTON (February 7, 2019)–One-third of all food produced in the world is never eaten, but new research launching February 14 will find that restaurants joining the fight against food waste can save a significant amount of money as well as food.

During an embargoed press call on Tuesday, February 12 at 10:00 am ET / 15:00 GMT, experts Liz Goodwin (WRI), Sam Kass (former White House Chef), Michael La Cour (IKEA) and Richard Swannell (WRAP) will share findings from 114 restaurants in 12 countries that confirm enormous returns on investment. The report authors will explain what restaurants need to do to reduce food waste and ways to replicate progress worldwide.

IKEA will also announce how many meals it has saved from the waste bin since it began tackling food waste in 2016. The company has a goal to halve food waste by 2020 in its restaurants that serve 680 million people per year.

The new research is a first-of-its-kind analysis done on behalf of Champions 12.3.

Food loss and waste is responsible for $940 billion in economic losses and 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. At the same time, some 800 million people do not have enough food to eat.

For more on the environmental impact of food, see WRI’s report on feeding 10 billion people in 2050 without destroying the planet.

The report is embargoed for embargoed for February 13, 2018 6:01 pm ET / 23:01 UTC.

WHAT

Embargoed press call previewing the new Champions 12.3 report, “The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Restaurants” and an announcement from Ikea.

WHO

  • Michael La Cour, Managing Director, IKEA Food Services
  • Liz Goodwin, Senior Fellow and Director, Food Loss and Waste at WRI
  • Sam Kass, Former Obama White House Chef, Founder of TROVE and Venture Partner, Acre Venture Partners
  • Richard Swannell, Director, WRAP Global
  • Jillian Holzer, Communications Manager, Food Program, WRI (moderator)

WHEN

Tuesday, February 12 at 10:00 am ET / 15:00 GMT / 16:00 CET

CALL-IN INFORMATION

(Other international numbers available upon request)

International: +1-210-795-1098 (Toll)

Brazil: 0800-8911992

Denmark: 8088-5604

France: 080-510-0831

Netherlands: 0800-020-0428

Sweden: 0200-890-123

US: 866-803-2143

UK: 0800-279-3953

Verbal pass code: “CHAMPIONS”

RSVP / MEDIA CONTACT

Lauren Zelin, World Resources Institute, Lauren.Zelin@wri.org, +1 202-729-7736

Nicholas Walton, World Resources Institute Europe, Nicholas.Walton@wri.org, +31 686 353 460

Freyja Frimannsdottir, IKEA Food Services AB, freyja.frimannsdottir@ikea.com, +46 70 834 06 05