BCC RESEARCH TO RELEASE NEW REPORT QUANTIFYING THE IMPACT OF CONFUSION ON FOOD AND BEVERAGE WASTE

“The BCC team is extremely excited to be working on this pioneering project on behalf of Plus Brand.” said Elliott Ross, Director of Consumer Insights at BCC Research. “This project provides a unique opportunity for us to explore the key issue of ‘confusion’ as a cause of waste. The whole team cannot wait to get stuck into this fascinating area, conducting one of the first surveys that quantify the size and impact of this issue, providing robust data on something we instinctively know to be a big problem from an environmental and health perspective. We hope through our Insights that we can provide a platform for Plus Brand to develop and tailor their products and services to tackle this issue further.”

The fact that Plus Brand, by way of our All-Scratch!® technology, is the only Solution Provider recognized by ReFED in the category of waste caused by confusion is a testament to the fact that confusion is a far too under-explored category. As touted by ReFED, “In the U.S., a staggering 38% of all food goes unsold or uneaten – the equivalent of 145 billion meals annually. It’s valued at $473 billion, roughly 1.8% of U.S. GDP, and it produces annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 30% of U.S. passenger vehicle transportation.” Reloop data from 2021 confirms that over 140 billion beverage containers in the US alone are wasted each and every year. Common sense (and anecdotal evidence) indicates that a good portion of this consumer waste is likely due to confusion over who a packaged food or beverage product belongs to. The BCC Report will help to confirm just how much.

The same issue with product and packaging waste is illustrated in U.S. schools by the WWF, specifically as it relates to milk products in schools. Through their Food Waste Warrior program launched in 2019, the WWF has estimated that over 530,000 tons of food is wasted each year in K-12 schools. The milk cartons specifically are being replaced with larger dispensers to cut back on waste, yet that still won’t address the problem of confusion related to which drink belongs to which child. Additionally, it may also create an increased problem with contamination, as fountain drinks have been known to contain E-coli and mold. 

Much of the current data and solution research currently focuses on proactive early-stage opportunity as it relates to minimizing the impact of waste during various points along the supply chain. Those stages include food harvesting, product utilization, transportation and distribution, and product management and processes once it arrives at distribution and retail locations. All of these points along the way have massive room for data-driven improvement, and incredible organizations like ReFED, in partnership with many forward-thinking for-profit organizations, are paving the way to making those improvements a reality. However, currently, households and consumer environments are the single largest factor in the staggering food waste numbers seen across the US (and the globe). A large portion of this waste at the end of the supply chain can often be attributed to confusion, whether it’s who a product belongs to, how long a product has been opened, or whether a product has expired. As a category that is responsible for so much waste, it has experienced certain degrees of innovation over the years, but (unfortunately) the waste caused by confusion has remained without a sustainable solution. 

Compounding the issue, food or beverage waste that takes place at the end of the supply chain also contains the highest possible carbon footprint in the life cycle of that product. Once a food product has gone from growing or sourcing to processing/manufacturing, to transport, to warehousing and distribution, to retail, and then to the consumer, the carbon footprint of that product is now at its highest possible level. This means that the most impactful waste to eliminate is waste caused by any means at the end of the supply chain, as every single instance of waste reduced at that stage has the highest possible carbon impact. 

“The stats you can see, whether from ReFED as it relates to food waste or the WWF as it relates to packaging waste, shines a glaring light on the opportunity (and need) for dramatic innovation,” said Chad Willis, Founder and CEO at Plus Brand. “When you are talking about almost 480 billion dollars worth of annual waste in the US alone, and recognizing that a large portion of that comes from the household side of things, it becomes obvious that confusion is very costly. Both in terms of dollars each year and the impact on the environment. Yet it has been so underexplored. For years people have tried various solutions that haven’t proven sustainable so as a society (and as businesses) we’ve collectively kind of left it alone and accepted confusion as a necessary evil; also accepting the consequences that go along with it. These statistics now tell us that the consequences are too severe and that it’s time to reject the status quo and embrace exciting new innovations moving forward. All-Scratch!® is already out in the market through Agua Plus alkaline water and its success is really what has triggered all of this in the first place. It is completely solving the problem of confusion as it relates to bottled water and people young and old are having fun with it at the same time!”