Waste not, want not: How upstream actions unlock sustainable fruit and vegetable ingredient sourcing
Food and beverage manufacturers are feeling the squeeze to demonstrate their sustainability credentials, with 69% of Europeans looking to maintain a sustainable diet.[1] Consumers are increasingly scanning labels for claims like ‘locally grown’ and ‘regeneratively farmed’ to seek out products with less of an impact on the environment. At the same time, data suggests that around a third of the 58 million tonnes of food waste generated annually in the EU stems from food manufacturing and primary production.[2] This is putting the onus on brands to do more to reduce their environmental footprint by conserving resources.
With manufacturers facing pressure from all angles, Zero Waste Week this month shines a way forward. Marked each September, this international awareness campaign puts a spotlight on how companies can reduce waste and make better use of the materials at their fingertips. For food and beverage manufacturers, it presents an opportunity to look beyond the factory, all the way to the field with the crops, growers, growing conditions and supply chains behind them.
In honour of Zero Waste Week, join us as we take a tour through the various ways that we help our food and beverage partners maximise resources and cut waste before their production processes even start.
The power of agronomy – in action
When we think about reducing food waste, we tend to focus on factories, shop floors and individual households. But at SVZ, with our in-depth knowledge of agronomy and souring quality produce year-round, we know better resource use starts with cultivation.
From perennial considerations – such as soil and seed quality – to more acute issues like pests, diseases and extreme weather events, there are a huge variety of factors that contribute to crop wastage at the farm level. Our in‑house agronomy teams work throughout the year to support farmers in managing these challenges, advising on sowing, planting and harvesting techniques, as well as offering free soil analysis and even the provision of seedlings. Knowledge sharing sits at the heart of these efforts to help farms boost crop yield and quality, with our teams holding annual training sessions focusing on plant protection products, fertilisation, soil improvement and other sustainable farming practices. In 2025, three sessions across Poland were attended by more than 500 farmers, underlining the appetite for practical advice for upping efficiency and environmental protection.
Equipped with this hands‑on support, our partner farms are able to lift crop availability, better manage the effects of changeable conditions and ultimately produce higher quality fruits and vegetables that are less likely to end up on the rubbish pile.
Speaking of which…
Source success, skip the landfill
As with anything organic, fruits and vegetables come in a range of shapes, sizes and other natural variations – in fact it’s one of the things that makes them such versatile ingredients. Though in some instances, ‘wonky’ carrots or teeny tiny strawberries are seen as defective – rather than just different – so instead of making it on to shelves, they are left to rot in landfill sites.
For us, the rejection of ‘imperfect’ fruit and veg is not just food waste problem, but a loss of valuable, natural goodness. Instead of letting high‑quality produce go to landfill simply because they don’t hit aesthetic standards, we turn them into delicious, nutritious purees, concentrates and juices that can brighten up everything from snacks to sandwiches and smoothies. In one example, we purchased hundreds of tonnes of high-quality Belgian tomatoes that would have otherwise gone to landfill from a farm just 2 km from our Rijkevorsel plant. Instead, these ripe and ready ingredients went on to bring added taste, texture, nutritional and functional value to soups, sauces and more. Because where others saw waste, we saw puree potential.
And even when produce cannot be used for ingredients, we still find a way to give them a second life through our side streams in areas such as brewing and biogas production. This takes us to another key site for waste reduction – the processing plant itself.
Putting the brakes on production-based waste
Once produce (wonky or not) makes it to one of our processing plants, our focus turns to transforming the raw material into premium ingredients with the least amount of waste possible. Many of our operations at SVZ are inherently energy- and water- intensive activities, making us even more aware of the importance of smart resource use.
Just some of the incremental upgrades we have made across our production sites in recent years include:
- Adding insulation to all heat-producing machinery to reduce energy waste and remove the need for additional air conditioning
- Introducing boiler accumulators to supply extra steam during peak periods without the need to heat more water
- Installing 220 solar panels at our Spanish facility, producing 200MWH of clean energy each year
- Purchasing a new chiller for our SVZ Tomaszów plant, which uses modern R290 refrigerant to cool up to 8,000 litres of fruit pulp more efficiently.
As European summers become hotter and drier, cutting our water consumption is an even more critical focus. At SVZ Spain, we established a plan to reuse part of the plant’s processing water and give it a second life in our cooling units, saving an estimated 5,000m³ of water each year. Thanks to this addition, our Almonte facility increased its annual water savings from 609m³ in 2023, to 3,355m³ in 2025. Over the same period, water intensity decreased from 2.99m³ to 2.49m³ per tonne of raw material processed. With droughts and water shortages of increasing concern, this is just one example of how smart, simple and sustainability-forward strategies can make a real, measurable difference.
The key word to watch here is ‘measurable’. While it’s true that any waste reduction efforts are better than none, concrete evidence is crucial to making a real impact for our partners and their customers.
Provide proof, build trust
Consumers are on high alert for signs of greenwashing, with more than half believing they have seen or heard misleading environmental information in relation to food and beverage products.[3] The truth is, even if a brand does everything it can to reduce waste and promote sustainability, without tangible, third-party-verified accreditations, such claims are unlikely to convince today’s sceptical shoppers.
At SVZ we ‘walk the walk’ of verifiable sustainability claims – primarily because we believe it is the right thing to do – but also because it gives our customers the confidence to say the ingredients included in their products are truly ‘green’. Our comprehensive Sustainability Passport brings all our commitments and initiatives together in one place, highlighting our external credentials, such as our EcoVadis Silver status, Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) and participation in Sedex, with SMETA 4‑pillar audits carried out across all processing sites.
Waste less, deliver more
It’s clear then, that reducing waste in food and beverage ingredient sourcing is a multilayered task with roots that stem from finished products all the way back to the field. With the right partner at your side to help you source the very best fruit and vegetable varieties and deliver ingredients you can trust, the road to reduced waste looks a lot more straightforward. With our extensive crop expertise, strong grower relationships and unwavering focus on sustainable development, SVZ are here to help you waste less, deliver more, and ultimately, grow better together.
If you would like to explore how responsible sourcing upstream can support lower waste, stronger traceability and a more resilient ingredient supply chain, the SVZ team is ready to talk: https://www.svz.com/contact/
[1] EIT Food Consumer Observatory 2026 Trust Report
[2] European Commission, About Food Waste, https://food.ec.europa.eu/food-safety/food-waste_en
[3] Kantar, Mistrust and rejection: The impact of greenwashing and social washing on brands, November 2023, https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/sustainability/the-impact-of-greenwashing-and-social-washing-on-brands
