Americans Waste a Huge Amount of Food Every Year. Should Big Brands Be Worried?

Some major marketers are trying to address the problem

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Walk into your favorite grocery outlet. Look around at all the food for sale. Then, imagine dumping a third of it in the garbage.

That’s how much food experts say we discard every day. While some will be composted, most of it is headed for landfills. Sustainability activists have fretted about this for years, but concerns about wasted food are now going mainstream. Case in point: on Oct. 13, Anthony Bourdain, host and writer of CNN’s travel/foodie show Parts Unknown, debuted Wasted, the feature-length documentary about food waste, in theaters and online.

“Over the last 24 months, more shoppers are concerned about unused food,” said Laurie Demeritt, CEO of The Hartman Group, a market research consultancy.

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This story first appeared in the Nov. 27, 2017, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.