• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Smithfield’s Ambitious Plans to Cut Food Waste in the Supply Chain

Smithfield’s Ambitious Plans to Cut Food Waste in the Supply Chain

pork
Ham and smoked meat sit in a cooler. Photo: Pixabay.
January 26, 2022
Helen Atkinson, Senior Editor

Earlier this month, Smithfield Foods Inc., a multi-billion-dollar pork producer and food-processing company, announced it would seek to halve overall food loss and waste in its U.S. company-owned operations by 2030. The commitment is in line with the its other resource conservation and waste-reduction initiatives, including efforts announced in 2019 to reduce overall waste sent to landfills by 75% and achieve zero-waste-to-landfill certification at three-quarters of its U.S. facilities by 2025.

The world’s biggest pork producer is on the roster of private businesses and organizations that have joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions initiative. Current Champions include Amazon.com Inc., Aramark Corp., Campbell Soup Co., Hilton, Kroger Co., PepsiCo Inc., Unilever PLC, Walmart Inc., Walt Disney World Resort, Wegmans Food Markets and many others.

Waste in the Supply Chain

The problem is one of the great environmental challenges that often seems to be hiding in plain sight. A report by commercial waste management services provider RTS Waste Services LLC, “Food Waste in America in 2022,” found that spoilage, whether real or perceived, is one of the biggest reasons people throw out food. More than 80% of Americans discard consumable food because they misunderstand expiration labels. However, there is also a huge opportunity in tightening up the food supply chain in order to minimize spoilage and waste.

Smithfield says some type of loss occurs at every stage of the food production and supply chain process. Between the farm gate and retail stages, food loss can occur from issues arising during the drying, milling, transportation or processing stages. At the retail level, equipment malfunction, over-ordering and culling of blemished products can result in food loss, too. Consumers also contribute to food loss when they buy or cook more than they need and choose to throw the extras away.

Smithfield Foods believes improved supply chain management has a real role to play in reducing food waste — both inbound from food processing plants and outbound to retailers and wholesale destinations.

“Supply chain management is very important to reducing food waste,” says John Meyer, senior director of environmental affairs for Smithfield Foods. All perishable food products have expiration dates and need to get to the grocery store with ample time to purchase and consume prior to the expiration date. Meyer says that, alongside Smithfield’s ambitions to halve overall food loss and waste in its U.S. manufacturing facilities and distribution centers by 2030, the company also takes pride in upholding comprehensive food safety and quality procedures across every facet of its vertically integrated business. “This ensures we are continuing to deliver high-quality products while also pursuing opportunities to reduce waste,” he says.

More Efficient Distribution

From a distribution point of view, reducing food waste is a natural by-product of aiming for maximal operational efficiency, says Jordan Lashmett, Smithfield’s vice president of distribution.  

Smithfield’s distribution network is composed of six core facilities placed strategically throughout the U.S. to support the regional needs. “Our focus is on minimizing mileage on customer freight while maximizing our own internal shipments from plant to distribution center,” Lashmett says.

Smithfield takes care of inbound and outbound shipping with a complex mix of its own dedicated fleet, partnerships with contracted carriers, and brokered freight services as needed. “We leverage the latest technology for inventory management and order accuracy to minimize the risk of generating waste,” Lashmett explains. “Systemic issues or operational failures at distribution centers, and hiccups or inefficiencies in transportation networks, are examples of ways inefficient distribution can result in food waste.” The company deploys cutting-edge software to support forecasting, manufacturing and customer ordering, creating visibility for its supply chain team and ultimately, again, avoiding waste.

Part of Smithfield’s strategy to reduce food waste is in its philanthropic activities. “Smithfield works closely with numerous organizations through our sales and order management processes to generate systemic visibility for aged products that have the ability to be safely donated,” Lashmett says. “As a food company, fighting food insecurity is one of Smithfield’s signature philanthropic causes, and we have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to our communities across the United States since 2008.”

Additionally, Smithfield has accepted an invitation to join the 10x20x30 initiative, which brings together more than 10 of the world's largest food retailers and providers to engage at least 20 suppliers to halve food loss and waste by 2030. The company is also a member of the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, an initiative by Vanguard Renewables, Unilever, Starbucks Corp. and Dairy Farmers of America that aims to avoid or eliminate food waste first, then repurpose what can't be eliminated into renewable energy via farm-based anaerobic digesters.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Regulation & Compliance Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Food & Beverage
  • Related Articles

    Vertical Farming: A Solution to Waste and Inefficiency in the Food Supply Chain?

    Report: Supply Chain Efficiency Could Cut Food Waste by $700Bn

Helen Atkinson, Senior Editor

What Makes Supply Chain Workers Stay

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • DOCUMENTS BEARING THE INSIGNIA OF US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION LIE ON A TABLE

    New CBP Regs Call for Greater Diligence by Brokers in Reporting Security Breaches

    Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
  • A WORKER IN A WAREHOUSE, SUPERIMPOSED WITH GRAPHICS SHOWING SUPPLY NETWORK

    Enabling Intelligent Visibility With Supply Chain Analytics

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
  • A GROUP OF WORKERS RANGED IN AN OFFICE, OF DIVERSE RACE, GENDER, AGE AND PHYSICAL ABILITY

    Podcast | The Supply Chain Workforce of the Future Is Already Here

    HR & Labor Management
  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • INSIDE A WAREHOUSE, TWO HANDS HOLD A TABLET COMPUTER SHOWING A MAP OF THE WORLD

    Five Ways to Increase Supply Chain Visibility

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)

Digital Edition

Scb nov 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing