In a country like Malaysia — where cuisines both local and international come together on every street corner, and where food is practically ingrained into our DNA — we seldom think about food beyond the table. While a good number of us are beginning to consider how food moves sustainably from farms (or oceans) to our plates, very few stop to think about where the extras go after a meal.
The latter will actually unveil the uncomfortable, lesser-known, dark side of our vibrant makan culture: food waste on a colossal scale.
Malaysia currently disposes of more than 4,000 tonnes of perfectly edible food daily, or 1.5 million tonnes a year. This figure increases during our many festive seasons, where the amount of excess food produced goes up by another 15 to 20 per cent. To put things into perspective, this is enough to fill up almost two Olympics-sized swimming pools — and to feed an additional three million mouths every single day.
This can help turn the tide for the nearly 900,000 Malaysians that are still going hungry. We are currently a middling 57th out of 119 countries on the Global Hunger Index. However, looking at the alarming trends surrounding food waste locally, neglecting this could mean we run the risk of slipping from moderate to serious hunger, and exacerbating the negative effects that are already beginning to take root in many different levels of the food supply chain.
From loss to landfills: the current state of food waste management
Wasting food directly translates to wasting the resources that go into producing that food. This spans the entire production chain: from sourcing, processing, and packaging all the way down to transportation, distribution, and sales.
From MIFB’s involvement with the local food and beverage (F&B) industry over the years, we have seen firsthand how this reduced cost effectiveness trickles down to directly impact businesses on the ground. Many F&B vendors end up accumulating financial loss due to having unsold excess food that just ends up in the bin, and breeding an overall culture of casual waste.
On a larger scale (and on a more alarming note), a large chunk of Malaysia’s food waste goes to landfills — where space is quickly running out. A common misconception is that food should be biodegradable, and therefore won’t have as harmful an impact on the environment or available landfill space as other kinds of waste like plastics. However, the decay of food in the earth is actually much more sinister: it emits greenhouse gases that pollute the air, degrade soil quality, and create an unhealthy environment that could affect food production practices like agriculture.
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Local F&B and governmental stakeholders are already actively trying to mitigate these consequences through various initiatives. This has so far included waste prevention corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, end-of-day clearance discounts on food, or even the recent consideration of a sustainable waste management system inspired by policies in Japan.
Full implementation of these inherently preventive measures will involve restructuring the entire waste management chain in Malaysia, and even the granular roots of how we approach consumption. As it always is with any big societal shift, this will no doubt take time to do right.
But in the interim, I believe that Malaysia needs something more immediate for the current climate of waste, before things spiral irreparably out of hand.
Adopting technology that turns waste into wonder
As expiration dates and freshness levels are a source of concern for many businesses (particularly made-to-order food outlets), sometimes merely donating excess food may not be feasible. One very powerful thing that the F&B industry is capable of doing — and should be doing more often — is repurposing food into a valuable environmental resource, through industrial composting and recycling technology.
Food waste recycling machines, such as the one MIFB is developing and implementing among F&B partners at our annual trade fairs, is a step towards achieving this goal. With this technology, excess food can be turned into organic fertiliser, which can ultimately be channelled back into enriching the agricultural backbone of our vibrant food landscape.
It’s a future that I myself dream of seeing: one where excess food is no longer waste, but wonder! Through the everyday advent of food, the F&B industry has the potential to help Malaysia meet its national goal and global commitment to a cyclical economy instead of a linear one, not to mention the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 of responsible consumption and production.
Harnessing the right technology to address food waste will have a ripple effect that travels far beyond resource management or the profit-and-loss margins of F&B businesses. It will also become an indispensable contribution to the global effort to combat very current issues on the whole — climate change, long-term environmental degradation, and food poverty.
As caretakers of the local food supply network, I truly believe that the F&B industry is collectively poised to shape consumption habits not just among consumers but internally among businesses and operators as well. This way, we can ensure that food security keeps going strong many years into the future so that we can continue doing what we do best: making food that our fellow Malaysians love, sustainably and responsibly.
About MIFB
MIFB (Malaysian International Food & Beverage Trade Fair) is one of the largest food and beverage exhibitions in Malaysia. Organised by Constellar, MIFB is devoted to becoming the ideal business centre where producers, importers, exporters, buyers, media partners, supporting partners, government agencies, and embassies gather all in one place. MIFB aims to revitalise F&B businesses through exclusive and effective business-to-business (B2B) platforms that enable strong connections at a landmark event with the power-packed F&B industry.
For more information about MIFB, please visit mifb.com.my.
