It is a hideous statistic: New Zealanders throw away over $100 million in leftovers every year.
For a nation (and a planet) where not everyone has enough to eat, that is a shameful record and now New World, together with anti-waste group Love Food Hate Waste, is trying to right the wrong with a new product designed to save money and cut New Zealand's food wastage.
And it gets worse – turns out the food we are throwing away most in our leftovers tends to be the healthiest: fresh vegetables and fresh fruit.
Those are the findings of a 2015 study conducted by Love Food Hate Waste with Otago University, WasteMINZ and councils around New Zealand. The study involved about 1400 "bin audits" (another way of saying they went through people's rubbish bins) and surveys of householders – and found that, as a nation, we throw away an estimated $100,507,602 of perfectly edible leftovers every year.
The problem is often storage – which is why the New World supermarkets have launched new, vacuum storage containers called New World PODs. They are designed to pump out the air so leftovers stay fresh for longer – and are eaten, not dumped.
Jenny Marshall, spokesperson for Love Food Hate Waste says: "There is no excuse for New Zealanders not to be making the most of their leftovers."
The problem is not confined to New Zealand. The United Nations estimates that about a third of all food produced in the world – about 1.3 billion tonnes or about US$680 billion from industrialised countries and about US$310 billion in developing countries.
But Dominic Quin, group general manager of marketing for New World, says New Zealand's international reputation as a genuine food basket makes the focus on leftovers "a no-brainer".
New World and sister supermarkets Pak'nSave and Four Square already donate about 5.1m meals a year to New Zealand foodbanks and community groups – donating food too good to throw away as "not everyone is able to provide easily for their families". That equates to about $5.8m of food (using an average base of $3.20 per kg of food).
"That's what we do with supermarket food left over," says Quin, "but this time we want to reach into the fridges of everyone at home and to help stop this household waste of leftovers. We're encouraging Kiwis to keep their leftover spag bol or that unused half tomato or avocado – and use one of our vacuum-sealed New World PODs to keep it fresh and ready to use for days after."
The Love Food Hate Waste study shows leftovers are the second most avoidable food to be dumped – beaten only by bread (nearly 13,000 tonnes, compared to about 9500 tonnes for leftovers). However, leftovers are the most expensive wastage – worth approximately twice as much ($100m) in food loss as bread.
So why are we throwing away so much edible food? The Love Food Hate Waste study shows that most people simply forget the leftovers sitting in the fridge or the freezer until it goes off. So much food is wasted because we either buy too much and/or don't store it properly.
"Initiatives like New World PODs can make a staggering difference to the amount of waste we're generating and also to our wallets – the less we throw out, the more we save," says Marshall.
"But it's not just about leftovers. We're also helping in-store teams talk with their customers about how to look after their fresh fruit and produce. Broccoli stalks are just as delicious and nutritious as the florets, for example, and if you cut up and keep fresh carrots in an airtight container you have a fresh and healthy snack that's ready to be packed for school and work lunches."
Watch here to see how you can keep your fruit fresh for longer:
So how does the PODs scheme work? They are available in all New World supermarkets while stocks last. For every $20 spent, customers can collect stickers redeemable for a New World POD. The containers come in four sizes (600ml to 2 litres) and can be collected with 12-18 stickers, depending on size. The vacuum pump can be redeemed with four stickers.
Science educator, NZ Herald columnist, nanotechnologist and senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, Dr Michelle Dickinson ("Nanogirl") says she is backing the PODs.
"That's because they are BPA free, reusable, recyclable and weigh less than other materials so are kinder on the environment in terms of energy use," she says. "Not all plastic is bad – some plastic products like New World PODs can actually be beneficial, provided we use them in the right way and dispose of them correctly once they've passed their use-by date."
For more information visit our website or Love Food Hate Waste, including tips and recipes for using those leftovers in great dishes (and for great savings).