Japanese companies go high-tech in the battle against food waste
28/02/2021 22:27
* Govt aims to halve food waste in 2030 from 2000 levels
* Foodmakers, retailers, tech firms join hands to cut waste
* With new law, Japan aims to achieve SDGs, greener society
By Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO, March 1 (Reuters) - Japanese companies are ramping up
the use of artificial intelligence and other advanced technology
to reduce waste and cut costs in the pandemic, and looking to
score some sustainability points along the way.
Disposing of Japan's more than 6 million tonnes in food
waste costs the world's No.3 economy some 2 trillion yen ($19
billion) a year, government data shows. With the highest food
waste per capita in Asia, the Japanese government has enacted a
new law to halve such costs from 2000 levels by 2030, pushing
companies to find solutions.
Convenience store chain Lawson Inc 2651.T has started
using AI from U.S. firm DataRobot, which estimates how much
product on shelves, from onigiri rice balls to egg and tuna
sandwiches, may go unsold or fall short of demand.
Lawson aims to bring down overstock by 30% in places where
it has been rolled out, and wants to halve food waste at all of
its stores in 2030 compared with 2018.
Disposal of food waste is the biggest cost for Lawson's
franchise owners after labour costs.
Drinks maker Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd 2587.T is
experimenting with another AI product from Fujitsu Ltd 6702.T
to try to determine if goods such as bottles of oolong tea and
mineral water have been damaged in shipping.
Until now, that's been a time-consuming human endeavour.
With the new AI, Suntory hopes to gauge when a damaged box is
just that, or when the contents themselves have been damaged and
need to be returned.
Suntory aims to reduce the return of goods by 30-50% and
cut the cost of food waste and develop a common standard system
that can be shared by other food makers and shipping firms.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Japan's notoriously fussy shoppers are showing signs of
getting on board, especially as the coronavirus pandemic hits
incomes.
Tatsuya Sekito launched Kuradashi, an e-commerce firm
dealing in unsold foods at a discount, in 2014 after seeing
massive amounts of waste from food processors while working for
a Japanese trading firm in China.
The online business is now thriving due partly to a jump in
demand for low-priced unsold foods as consumers became more cost
conscious amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Sales grew 2.5 times last year from a year before, while
the amount of food waste has doubled since the coronavirus cut
off food supply chain," Sekito told Reuters.
Kuradashi has a network of 800 companies, including Meiji
Holdings Co 2269.T , Kagome Co 2811.T and Lotte Foods Co
002270.KS , who sell it a total 50,000 items including packs of
instant curry, smoothies and high-quality nori.
"Japanese shoppers tend to be picky but we attract customers
by offering not just a sale but a chance to donate a portion of
purchases to a charity, raising awareness about social issues,"
Sekito said.
Membership numbers jumped to 180,000 in 2021 from 80,000 in
2019.
Others have also joined forces with food firms in developing
new technological platform to cut food waste as part of global
efforts to meet sustainable development goals (SDGs).
NEC Corp 6701.T is using AI that can not only analyse data
such as weather, calendar and customers' trends in estimating
demand but also give reasoning behind its analysis.
NEC has deployed the technology to some major retailers and
food makers, helping them reduce costs by 15%-75%.
NEC hopes to share and process data through a common
platform among makers, retailers and logistics, to reduce
mismatches in supply chains.
"Reducing food waste is not our ultimate goal," said Ryoichi
Morita, senior manager overseeing NEC's digital integration.
"Eventually, we hope it can lead to resolve other business
challenges such as minimizing costs, fixing labour shortages,
streamlining inventory, orders and logistics."
($1 = 106.0600 yen)
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
((tetsushi.kajimoto@thomsonreuters.com;))