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A Fresh Approach

Few things feel as bad as tossing a tray of mushy strawberries you forgot in the fridge. But the real problem starts long before you get your groceries home. Globally, the FAO estimates about 1/3 of all food produced is wasted. That’s about 1.3 billion tonnes per year. In high-income countries, waste happens mostly at the retail and household level. In the US, about 80-100 million tonnes of food is wasted in a year. This accounts to about 40% of the total food supply. So each person wastes around 95–115 kg/year. The major sources of food wastage are 43% household, 40% retail and foodservice, 17% farm and processing losses. If we were to put our money where our mouth is, then the US would spew $400 billion/year in lost food. Closer home, about 11–12 million tonnes/year of food is wasted in Germany, and 9.5 million tonnes/year with 6.6 million tonnes coming from UK household waste alone. Italy losses 8–9 million tonnes/year, 75% of which is lost at household level; an estimated €15 billion in lost food value annually. France, a pioneer in anti-waste laws, wastes about 10 million tonnes of food each year. Since 2016, big supermarkets are banned from destroying unsold edible food and must donate it instead. If global food waste were a country, it would be the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: up to 40% of fresh food in grocery stores gets thrown out before it ever reaches your plate. Why? It's hard to guess how many bananas, cucumbers, or heads of lettuce people will buy this week. Store managers often depend on intuition and outdated spreadsheets when dealing with perishable fresh fruit, which is in high demand but difficult to forecast. Aside from the financial and ecological costs, there is also the issue of overstocked stores, food spoilage, and wasted money that results from food waste. This is why I’d like to share Afresh’s perspective as they solve the problem of food waste. Afresh is a digital business from California with a goal to help grocery stores waste less fresh food and sell more of what shoppers really want. Their secret ingredient lies in the AI-powered software that takes the guesswork out of ordering fresh vegetables and turns it into a precise science.

Afresh gives grocery chains an AI “co-pilot” for fresh food. Their software plugs into the store’s existing inventory systems, analyzes sales data, weather trends, local events, and more. It then recommends exactly how much fresh produce to order and when. Afresh’s system also tells staff when to move older stock forward, adjust pricing to clear items before spoilage, and optimize shelf displays to match real buying patterns. For busy store managers, it’s like having a digital fresh-food expert whispering in their ear 24/7. Supermarket chains using Afresh, like Albertsons in the US, rave about how the tool makes ordering easier and employees happier. Store managers say they spend less time on tedious counting and more time helping customers. This agriculture technology has cut food waste by up to 25%!

Europeans love fresh, local food but we’re not immune to waste. EU households waste about 88 million tonnes of food every year, and grocery stores are a big part of that story. With tightening EU Green Deal targets, supermarkets across Europe are under pressure to report waste and shrink their carbon footprint. Smart software like Afresh’s can make that goal achievable and profitable. Right now, Afresh is expanding in North America. Their model has huge potential in Europe, where supermarket chains are big, sustainability rules are getting stricter, and local supply chains are in the spotlight. Reducing waste is one of the fastest ways to improve food security, cut GHG emissions, and save households money. Would you trust an AI to help stock your local store?

Feeding The Growing Populace

Tetra Pak formally opened its new Technology Development Center in Karlshamn, Sweden. This center will help the commercial scale-up of meals made from biomass and precision fermentation. The pilot plant is meant to assist businesses get their products from prototype to market-ready faster and with less danger of losing money on new food innovations. Tetra Pak opened the new center on June 13, 2025. It is part of the company's larger product development ecosystem and is what they describe their "most significant commitment" yet to the developing new food market. Charles Brand, Executive Vice President for Processing Solutions & Equipment, said at the opening, "While others in the industry are cutting back, we are moving forward." We know that we need to find new ways to generate food for a growing population, but we also know that scaling up new food items is a leap into the unknown. That's exactly where we shine.

As more and more money is invested in fermentation-based foods around the world, producers are under pressure to show that these foods can be sold and get them to market faster. Tetra Pak's new facility will help both new and existing food makers face that challenge by providing them with personalized help from experts in bioprocessing, food technology, and equipment design.

The center lets manufacturers test and improve both upstream and downstream processes on a small scale, which helps them find the best way to go to production. This includes comparing harvest technologies side by side and measuring how well the process works to lower both operational and capital expenses. The center's production lines can be changed and expanded as needed, and they are set up exclusively for food applications. This makes them a more practical option than complicated biomanufacturing systems. A group of in-house experts, such as biotech and food technologists, lab technicians, and line solution specialists, work closely with each manufacturer to make sure that trials are in line with their microbe strains and final product goals. The goal is to help create manufacturing processes that can adapt to the needs of a growing business and changing product categories, such as functional ingredients and alternatives to meat or fish. 

The process evaluation program is designed for businesses that are moving from lab-scale production to demo-scale production or that are looking for innovative ways to make their processes more efficient. Producers who work with the center can choose between two structured development plans or pick and choose trial activities that meet their needs. The productivity validation program is for firms that already have processes in place. It checks how well those processes are working and suggests ways to make them better. Food makers can also connect with other Tetra Pak development centers, like the ones in Lund, through the Karlshamn facility. There, they can further improve the qualities of their food, try out new formulations, and plan their go-to-market strategies. This comprehensive support system is meant to help new food formats succeed in the market by meeting both customer needs and business challenges.

"Startups are having a hard time scaling production to food size, and we know how to do that," Brand said. "We help customers move from prototypes to production lines by using our extensive experience in food production and our network of development centers." People shouldn't see new food innovation as a goal; it's about coming up with useful ideas that can get food on shelves all across the world right now.

The opening of the facility shows that Tetra Pak is committed to helping the growth of microbial food solutions by providing realistic, scalable infrastructure. The company says it is uniquely qualified to fill the gap between breakthrough innovation and commercial production. This is something that food producers who want to make competitive, sustainable products in a complicated regulatory and economic context are increasingly looking for.

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🌎 Out & About

See You There: If you're looking to find me at a big show, just download the what3words app! I can easily text you my exact location or share a live track while we're there. What3Words is a fantastic and free tool that divides the world into 3-meter-square blocks, each marked by 3 unique words. It's perfect for marking your car's spot in a big parking lot, finding your exhibit booth at a show, or sharing your location when meeting up in a tricky area.

Weary Wine: The postponement of alarmist labels on alcohol in Ireland until 2028 is a much welcome development. However, the objective remains to achieve the complete cancellation of a misleading regulation that, particularly concerning wine, sets a perilous precedent and lacks scientific justification. The European Union did support the Irish government's plan, even though Italy, France, Spain, and six other EU countries thought it would make the internal market less open. The concept wants to include warnings about terrorists on the bottles, including "alcohol consumption causes liver disease" and "alcohol and fatal cancers are directly linked," but they don't take into consideration how much alcohol is in the bottles. Read more on Coldiretti.

Yes, Hard Work Pays: It does not take much to build a dynasty. In agriculture, business, and innovation, consistent effort is what turns problems into products. And as much as hard work alone does not guarantee success, it builds reputations and opens doors that shortcuts can’t. Such is the mindset of the wealthiest individuals on planet earth like Zhou Qunfei. Zhou is the founder and chairwoman of Lens Technology, a renowned touchscreen manufacturer based in Hunan that supplies touchscreens to tech heavyweights such as Apple, Samsung, and Tesla. Forbes ranks the 54-year-old among the top five of the world's 50 richest self-made women in 2025, with a net worth of US$11 billion (HK$86.35 billion). Her journey is a testament to perseverance and determination. Find out the inside story on Tatler.

Bonsai Robotics Acquires farm-ng: Bonsai Robotics has announced its acquisition of farm-ng, bringing together two agricultural technology firms dedicated to making autonomy more accessible and effective for growers. The acquisition combines Bonsai's AI-powered autonomous platform with farm-ng's modular, electric machinery, both geared to suit the real-world demands of farms across the United States. The aim is to incorporate Bonsai Robotics’ autonomous software into farm-ng's hardware solutions. Working together helps further Bonsai's goal of improving orchard automation. For more on this acquisition, visit iGrow News.

Income vs Tax: European countries rank quite differently by average family income, especially when considering both nominal income and purchasing power adjusted for living costs. With a nominal annual family income of over €179,000 and, after adjusting for cost of living, nearly 100,777 PPS (Purchasing Power Standard), Switzerland has the highest average family income in Europe. Romania and Lithuania, for example, have far lower average salaries (approximately €40,000 gross in Romania), and their tax systems remove a big chunk of their income, which affects their family income after taxes. Visual Capitalist dives into how European countries fair by average family income in 2024.

Taxing Soil: The UK government has revealed intentions to implement a tax on inherited agricultural assets exceeding £1 million, starting in April 2026, at a rate of 20%. This is half the current standard rate. According to the UK government, there is no cause for alarm as the annual revisions will primarily impact the 500 wealthiest farms. However, farming unions have estimated that up to 70,000 farmers could be affected overall. Government officials claim the reforms will have little impact on food security, while farmers claim the measures will ruin family farms. But who is right? I dug out an older article from The Guardian that sheds light on the farm inheritance tax.

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