Food Waste Race
How to help takeaway customers reduce food waste
Registered Charity No. 1158700
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Contents Foreword from Just Eat
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Why the Food Waste Race?
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Headline findings
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Takeaway food waste insight
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Using the insight gathered
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Impact and findings
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Chipping away at food waste
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How to help customers reduce food waste
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The food waste racers
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Foreword from Just Eat Food waste is one of the greatest issues of our generation. Roughly a third of all food we produce in the world is wasted (FAO, 2011). This food waste contributes to global challenges such as greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and pollution. But there is also the economic impact. Research we carried out in 2019 with the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) found that £1.8bn worth of takeaway food is thrown away every year in the UK alone, of that, £376m worth of food waste occurs in takeaway outlets while households account for £1.4bn. At Just Eat, we recognise that we have a role to play in helping to reduce the amount of takeaway food that’s wasted each year. We also recognise that we can influence wider sustainable behaviours. It is clear from our work with both the SRA and Hubbub that the onus is not just on consumers to waste less, but it’s also on restaurants and food delivery platforms to play their part too. Reducing food waste at all levels – consumer and industry – is the only way to make a tangible difference. Through the Food Waste Race Pilot, we’ve been able to identify key areas where action can be taken to reduce food waste. Just Eat is committed to taking steps that will help to catalyse positive change. We plan to take on the following business actions: Following the new regulation we will enable restaurants to easily display calories and portion sizes on our menus. As this is only obligatory for larger sized restaurants with 250+ employees, we will actively encourage restaurants of all sizes to add this information to their menus and support them to offer the right portion sizes. We will work with a group of restaurants to pilot offering smaller portion sizes of the most commonly wasted food such as chips and rice. After the pilot, our aim is to use these learnings to inspire and stimulate other restaurants in the UK to follow suit. Our research found that 39% of participants didn’t think leftovers were safe to eat later and 68% of participants said that inspiring people with simple and tasty tips to reimagine their takeaway leftovers would be the best way to reduce food waste. We are planning to support customers by providing them with information designed to inspire them with new and safe ways to reuse their leftovers. After completing this research in the UK we are planning to get insights from other markets so that we can plan initiatives to fight food waste across more countries. We’re looking forward to working with our restaurant partners and our customers over the coming months to drive forward these initiatives and help to build a more sustainable food system. Robin Clark, Senior Director of Global Partnerships, Sponsorships and Sustainability at Just Eat Takeaway.com 3
Why the Food Waste Race? In 2021 Just Eat Takeaway.com partnered with environmental charity Hubbub to delve deeper into how to help people waste less takeaway food. Just Eat Takeway.com is the leading global online food delivery company, connecting tens of millions of people with their local restaurants. They are committed to reducing the carbon footprint of their direct operations, as well as collaborating to reduce emissions, single-use packaging, and waste across the broader marketplace. This pilot builds on Just Eat Takeaway.com’s previous work to reduce food waste from takeaway meals. Hubbub is an award-winning charity with a proven record in creating effective, evidence-based campaigns that inspire people to make choices that are good for them and the environment. Hubbub’s food team creates engaging and thought-provoking campaigns exploring sustainable diets and food waste. These include the Community Fridge Network which supports businesses and communities to share surplus food, No Time For Waste with Tesco to help people across the UK tackle their food waste and Norfolk and Suffolk’s seven-year food waste reduction initiative Food Savvy. Hubbub and Just Eat Takeaway.com’s shared ambitions to reduce food waste resulted in the Food Waste Race - a pilot project with regular takeaway customers from the UK. The aim was to find out more about takeaway habits, to test interventions for reducing waste and develop recommendations that could be shared with all Just Eat Takeaway. com’s customers. While the pilot took place in the UK (where Just Eat Takeaway.com operates under the brand name Just Eat), learning and recommendations can provide a framework for Just Eat Takeaway.com to help their customers reduce food waste in other markets.
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Headline findings Twelve weeks after the Food Waste Race pilot finished, participants told us:
92%
wasting less takeaway food
82%
wasting less food from groceries
63%
reduction in takeaway food wasted (from 16% to 6%)
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97%
very or extremely likely to reduce takeaway food waste in future
Takeaway food waste insight The Food Waste Race took place in two stages – an insight phase followed by a behaviour change trial. We recruited a sample of participants representing frequent Just Eat customers to take part. The insight phase ran for four weeks. 91 participants filled in a survey and four weeks of food diaries (502 diary surveys were completed in total, either each time participants ordered a takeaway or at least once a week). They told us about their takeaway habits, how much takeaway goes to waste and barriers to reducing food waste.
How much people spend and how often: £48
average spend per week on takeaways, or £26 per meal.
Top reasons for ordering takeaways: 1
Want a treat
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Don’t feel like cooking
3
To satisfy a craving
2-3
2.5
average number of takeaway orders per week.
average number of people fed per order.
Favourite takeaway type:
1 Pizza
2 Chinese
4 Burgers
3 Indian
5 Fried chicken
What goes to waste? 53% said that large portion sizes
16% of each
were the main cause of food being leftover. Rice and chips portions were most likely to be too large.
takeaway meal is wasted.
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Takeaway food waste insight Most wasted food types:
Other causes of leftover food going to waste:
1 Chips 2 Rice 3 Pizza 4 Meat 5 Curry
Thinking takeaway food was unsafe to eat later Not liking eating leftover takeaway food Already having lots of food to use up at home
15% said their takeaway orders caused them to throw away food that they already had at home.
Words from The Racers “Before getting involved in the Food Waste Race leftover takeaway food was ending up in the bin. We didn’t know how to reheat it. Top offenders were chips, bread and anything that came in big portions.” Ambi Kumar, London
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Using the insight gathered 72 of the 91 participants took part in a series of activities and challenges over three weeks to explore how to reduce their food waste from takeaways. The activities were fully digital and grounded in behaviour change approaches such as highlighting benefits and reducing friction to taking action. The activities explored how small, simple, and delicious changes could make a big difference to food waste.
Bitesize info and inspo We gave the participants bitesize info and inspo to help them find out how to reduce their food waste. We shared tips on food safety as GIFs and quick TikTok style videos of chef and influencer Poppy Cooks reinventing takeaways. The participants spoke with expert chefs and took part in quizzes and competitions to help them digest learning.
Creating a community The cohort joined a closed Facebook group which offered a sense of community, and a safe space for people to challenge their preconceptions about takeaways and food waste. Participants tried new things together, shared their views and opinions, offered each other tips and inspiration, and received expert advice.
Competition Each weekend of the three-week live period we set a challenge for the participants to show how they used their takeaway leftovers to create a new meal or snack. They took the chance to put learning into practice and take part in some fun competition.
Incentives The participants competed for spot prizes to motivate and incentivise them. These included Poppy Cooks’ new recipe book, handy kitchen gadgets, bento lunch boxes, reusable drinks bottles and more.
Live insights The participants were encouraged to share their thoughts throughout the live period about how Just Eat and takeaway restaurants could help them to reduce food waste. We used ‘conversation starter’ posts on the Facebook group to spark discussion. 8
Impact and findings Twelve weeks after the Food Waste Race, we asked the 72 participants which new habits they had kept. We then compared these findings with the survey that participants took at the start of the Food Waste Race. Here is what they told us:
63%
92%
wasting less takeaway food
69%
reduction in people who said ‘throwing away leftover takeaway food is easier than storing it for later’ (from 26% to 8%)
reduction in takeaway food wasted (from 16% to 6%)
50% reduction
in people who said they ‘don’t like to eat leftover takeaway food’ (24% to 12%)
71% making
82%
wasting less food from groceries
better choices for the environment in other areas of their lives
97% very
or extremely likely to reduce takeaway food waste in the future
Participants became more thoughtful about food waste when ordering. They ordered the right amount of foods that come in portions they consider too large such as rice and chips. They continued to order the same quantity of items like pizza and curry, that can be seen as better for eating the next day. We armed the participants with inspiration and knowledge to make simple changes. They told us that their barriers to reducing food waste fell away. Participants became more likely to store pizza, curry and chips in the fridge to eat later. We targeted these foods in Bitesize Inspo films with Poppy Cooks – this showed that delicious and simple foodie films work!
Words from The Racers “Be mindful and you can create something delicious with your leftovers and what’s in your fridge.” Matt Beavan, London “My top tip is to think about how you can reuse and enjoy your takeaway food the next day and not just on the day you ordered it.” Ambi Kumar, London 9
Chipping away at food waste ‘Chips’ or ‘fries’, call them what you will, the problem remains the same. They are the most frequently left-over takeaway food type, even beating rice and bread. Participants told us that the chip portions they receive are often too big. Before the Food Waste Race 72% of participants told us that they had leftover chips after eating their takeaway meals. So, we did two things:
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We asked participants to ‘show us their plate,’ with a photo of how many chips they’d actually eat on it. This helped both us and them visualise the size of the portion problem.
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Screened a bitesize inspo film that showed the participants how to remix their fries the next day. With just a few extra ingredients Chef Poppy Cooks created spicy masala fries.
The result:
78%
wasted less chips
42% increase
65%
in people putting leftover chips in the fridge to eat later (from 19% to 27%)
ordered less chips
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How to help customers reduce food waste Food waste is a major contributor to the climate crisis and 70% of post farm gate waste in the UK happens at the household level [WRAP]. Many food businesses are now setting ambitious targets to reduce waste in their operations and supply chains. There is also a significant opportunity to help customers tackle the problem at home. At the start of the pilot participants told us that they wasted 16% of takeaway food compared to 20% of groceries. While takeaway food constitutes a relatively small proportion of domestic waste, it is an increasingly important part of how we eat. By using takeaway food as an entry point, we found that this campaign also led to a reported reduction in food waste from groceries (82% of participants reported wasting less food from groceries). 71% of participants also said that the campaign inspired them to adopt more sustainable habits beyond food, including: Walking more and using the car less
Growing fruit and vegetables at home
Moving to a renewable energy provider
Buying second-hand clothes, rather than new
Looking for less plastic packaging when shopping
Recommendations Using insight gathered from the Food Waste Race, Hubbub has made the following recommendations to Just Eat Takeaway.com and restaurant partners:
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What? Portions designed to reduce food waste Who? Just Eat Takeaway.com and restaurant partners
Large portion sizes was the main reason for takeaway food being leftover. Participants want more clarity on portion sizes when ordering and Just Eat could use this opportunity to sell them something they actually want. clearer descriptions of portion sizes, particularly for commonly wasted items like rice and chips more options to pick different sizes (e.g. small, medium, large) the ability to opt-in for extras (e.g. salads, bread, sauces - so that they are not sent by default)
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How to help customers reduce food waste Recommendations continued
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What? Guidance on how to safely store and reheat leftovers Who? Just Eat Takeaway.com
The participants told us that ‘thinking takeaway food was unsafe to eat later’ was their biggest reason for leftover food being wasted (39% of participants). Just Eat Takeaway.com are in a trusted position to provide reputable advice on how to safely store and reheat popular leftover takeaway foods. Information used as part of the pilot could be provided on the Just Eat Takeaway.com website and signposted from the app when ordering.
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What? Normalise using leftovers Who? Just Eat Takeaway.com
Just Eat Takeaway.com should inspire people with simple and tasty tips to reimagine their takeaway leftovers. Participants told us that this was the number one way to help them reduce food waste (68% of participants). They loved the bitesize inspo we provided with quick films to reinvent leftovers such as curry pasties or pizza crust croutons. There is an opportunity for Just Eat Takeaway.com to help their customers see using up leftovers as normal, safe and appealing through creative campaigns with restaurant partners and influencers across their social, web, app and other marketing channels.
Words from The Racers “Different options for portion sizes is the simplest way to control wastage. I like the idea of an opt in for extra items.” Alan Bracegirdle, Food Waste Race participant, Liverpool “I’d find advice on safe reheating really helpful. I’d look at the website for what to do with leftovers for safety advice and inspiration.” Kelly Maskery, Food Waste Race participant, Hampshire
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The food waste racers Kelly’s Takeaway tonight and leftover lunch tomorrow Kelly Maskery lives in Hampshire with her husband and two kids. Kelly and her family love food and enjoy cooking. Takeaway night is a treat and a chance to try some authentic flavours. Kelly’s favourite takeaways are Chinese, Indian and pizza. “We now order more than we will eat in an evening so that we can have leftovers the next day. Neither me nor the kids eat pizza crusts, so they sometimes go to waste. I now look at food differently. Inspired by Poppy Cooks we used up our pizza crusts as croutons in a tomato soup.”
Khadija’s ten year old eco-warrior Khadija lives in Newcastle with her husband and three sons. Takeaways are their Friday night treat, and they all decide together what they fancy. It usually ends up being fried chicken, pizza, fish and chips or Chinese. Khadija used to order too much, but this all changed when her youngest son, joined the Eco Council at school and found out that reducing food waste was one of the best ways to help the environment. “Zain helped us all think about how we can reduce our food waste since he became an eco-warrior and the Food Waste race helped us to take action. He now tells me how hungry he is and what portion size he wants. The Food Waste Race has helped us think about what we’re ordering. In the past we used to just count heads, now we think about what each person will eat before we order.”
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Registered Charity No. 1158700
To find out more on Just Eat’s commitment to sustainability go to: www.justeattakeaway.com/responsible-business
To find out more about Hubbub go to: www.hubbub.org.uk Published 2022 14
