Progress In Reducing Food Waste: A Data Report from the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment and the U.S. Food Waste Pact
March 31, 2025
Data collection is a central pillar of the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment (PCFWC) and the U.S. Food Waste Pact (Pact) in their efforts to reduce food waste through data-driven strategies. Since 2019, PCFWC retailers have been measuring and reporting food waste in their operations. This year, in addition to a fifth year of regional data from PCFWC retail signatories, the Pact is building on this legacy of best-in-class data reporting by publishing national retail and foodservice data for the first time. This report is an in-depth dive into these three datasets.
Since the first year of data collection in 2019, unsold food rates have decreased by 30% for reporting PCFWC retailers.
PCFWC retailers had an unsold food rate of 3.12% in 2023.
Pact retailers had an unsold food rate of 4.1% in 2023.
Nearly 13k tons of food went unsold in the foodservice (business & industry) segment in 2023.
Collaborate Across the Food System
The U.S. Food Waste Pact brings stakeholders from across the supply chain together to prevent and reduce food waste. From producers, to manufacturers, to distributors, to foodservice operators, to grocery retailers, signatories of the Pact report food waste data, discuss best practices, and test and scale food waste solutions.