CAFÉ SECTOR ACTION PLAN REPORT 2024

Executive Summary Food loss and waste has significant environmental, social and economic impacts. Australia produces enough food to feed 75 million people every year, yet 1 in 6 Australians go hungry regularly (Foodbank 2023). In Australia, 7.6 million tonnes of food go to waste each year (enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground ten times), and 70% of which is edible. While consumers are often targeted in food waste campaigns, hospitality and the food industry are major contributors to overall food waste, with the hospitality sector responsible for 16% or 1.2 million tonnes of Australia’s annual food waste (FIAL, 2021). Sector Action Plans work with key stakeholder across a food industry sector or along a food commodity supply chain to understand where food waste is generated, why it occurs and what can be done to reduce it. This Sector Action Plan focuses on the small- to medium-sized businesses in the café sector. Reducing food waste within the café sector will benefit businesses, decrease environmental impact and is crucial for Australia to meet its objective of halving food waste by 2030 in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3. This Sector Action Plan, one of a suite of Foodservice SAPs, was funded by the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority (NSW EPA), QDESI, and RMIT University’s Enabling Impact Platforms. Project partners included the City of Yarra, Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology, Australian Food Service Advocacy Body and William Angliss Institute. The plan was developed by End Food Waste Australia (EFWA) with stakeholders in the café sector and across the supply chain.