Food Loss and Waste product factsheets
Use our product factsheets: bananas, blueberries, grapes and green beans
Our product factsheets contain information on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) of four products. Stakeholders in the food system find the following information:
- FLW percentages in the chain from farmer up to and including retail
- Causes of FLW
- Interventions to reduce FLW
View the factsheets
Bananas
- FLW percentage in the international banana value chain to the Netherlands until retail stage is 17,4% in total
- Most of the FLW occurs in the export stage during the in-country handling
- Main root causes: pest damage, damage from weather events, inappropriate packaging, loss due to maturation
- Main interventions: pest prevention, appropriate packaging, carefully controlled ripening processes.
Blueberries
- FLW percentage in the blueberries supply chain to the Netherlands until the import and retail stage is 13,4% in total
- Most of the FLW occur during the import stage
- Main root causes: lack of pre-cooling, uncareful handling, interruptions in the cold chain, rejection due to moisture loss, pathogens and rots
- Main interventions: harvesting frequency, pre-cooling, careful handling, using the right temperature settings.
Grapes
- FLW percentage in the international table grapes supply chain to the Netherlands until the retail stage is 14,3% in total
- Most of the FLW occurs during the import and retail stage
- Main root causes: low quality at arrival, progressive defects, mismatch between supply and demand
- Main interventions: implementing GAP, using technology for communication, coordination, planning and forecasting.
Green beans
- FLW percentage in the international green beans supply chain until the retail stage is 15,1% in total
- Most of the FLW occurs in the export and retail supply chain stage
- Main root causes: pest damage and disease, poor post-harvest conditions, poor topping and tailing
- Main interventions: pest-preventing measures, (pre-)cooling