Lamb Weston
Tackling Root Causes of Food Loss in the Frozen Potato Supply Chain
The Situation
Lamb Weston is a leading supplier of frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer, and vegetable products to restaurants and retailers around the world. We are committed to reducing and diverting food waste through industry-leading manufacturing processes. Our work begins by striving to use the whole potato so no part goes to waste. These efforts include repurposing our unused pieces to produce hash browns and Tater Puffs® while we convert other byproducts into potato starch for our proprietary batters and coatings.
In 2024, we set new global goals, which included reducing food waste from the production process by 50%, and striving to send zero waste to landfill. Lamb Weston is a signatory to the U.S. Food Waste Pact, which is focused on creating meaningful change in food waste reduction nationwide with data-driven strategies that are used across supply chains. We also have signed the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment (PCFWC) designed to reduce and prevent food waste in California, Oregon, and Washington by 50% by 2030.
The Solution
As part of our partnership efforts, we received a grant opportunity to conduct a food waste study at one of our sites in Oregon. Working with Enviro-Stewards, we completed a detailed assessment to identify key contributors to food loss, explore root causes, and develop quick wins and strategic opportunities for waste reduction. A report was published outlining nine conservation measures, which could at that one facility collectively save up to 25.6 million more pounds per year of potatoes in the human food supply chain. These are described in a public case study: Tackling Root Causes of Food Loss in the Potato Supply Chain.
One of the quick wins identified is described below. Quick wins are relatively inexpensive and easy to implement measures. They are typically found by walking the facility to observe where good food unintentionally leaves the production process and also by asking sanitation staff where they consistently need to clean up lost product.
The Quick Win Opportunity: Potato Cutter Jams
When a potato cutter jams, an automated flap closes to halt the flow of potatoes into the cutter. However, potatoes are still entering the far end of the belt, causing them to eventually back up to the point of overflow onto the floor. Potatoes that reach the floor are unable to enter the supply chain for human consumption, qualifying them as food loss.
Food Loss Reduction Solution
Adding an additional automated flap at a critical juncture of the belt could route potatoes into an alternate cutting machine when one line gets jammed. This would avoid potatoes piling up and overflowing onto the floor, at which point they can no longer be used.
“Lamb Weston is committed to reducing and diverting food waste that might otherwise go to landfills through industry-leading manufacturing processes,” Lamb Weston 2024 Sustainability Report
The Impact
The implementation of this specific Quick Win measure would save approximately $140,000 per year with a simple payback period of less than one year. It would also:
- Save 1.2 million pounds of potatoes per year, equivalent to the output of 13 acres of agriculture;
- Retain the equivalent of 560,000 meals per year in the human food supply; and
- Avoid the wasted generation of 150 tonnes per year of Scope 3 GHG emissions already produced during the process of growing the potatoes.
“Lamb Weston is committed to reducing and diverting food waste that might otherwise go to landfills through industry-leading manufacturing processes,” Lamb Weston 2024 Sustainability Report