Measuring food waste in a dairy supply chain in Pakistan
This article in the Journal of Cleaner Production provides a first attempt to test the methodological principles of the Food Waste Protocol, using the Pakistani dairy supply chain as a case study. A FLW Standard and protocol have been developed by UNEP and WRI and Nestlé actively contributes to the development and conducted a pilot project on food waste using its Pakistani dairy value chain in 2014. This case study is a first attempt to test, in a real-life setting, the main methodological principles of the FLW Protocol to fuel ongoing discussions on the harmonization of food waste quantification. A literature review and interviews with experts of the Pakistani dairy sector were conducted. Data from Nestlé, farms, village milk centres and chilling centres, distributors, and retailers were collected. Although the overall amount of waste throughout the case study’s supply chain is relatively limited (being ca. 1.4%), it appeared that the “unmet production potential” was high and actually much bigger than the waste in a strict sense. Therefore, the quantification exercise demonstrated the vital importance of a thorough description and analysis of the supply chain in all its dimensions. Indeed, it allowed to identify issues that do not fall under the scope of food waste quantification in the sense of the FLW Protocol but that maybe of crucial importance at systemic level.