Food waste the equivalent of one million meals has been diminished by Ikea through its Food Is Precious initiative.

The scheme aims to cut food waste by 50% in all Ikea stores by August 2020. It works through a ‘smart scale solution’ which means food waste is measured and reported in Ikea restaurants, bistros and food markets.

So far, 35% of IKEA stores have implemented the solution while other stores are preparing to join. A few months into the launch of the initiative, the company has saved 450.000 Kg of food waste in total.

Michael La Cour, managing director at IKEA Food Services AB, commented: “As we set out with high ambitions and the goal of decreasing food waste by 50% at Ikea, we are happy to share that the initial results are very promising. All stores that have implemented the solution show a significant decrease in food waste after only a few months. That is a great motivation for us to continue the roll out of the initiative, working together with Ikea co-workers all around the world.

“With 414 Ikea stores in 49 countries more than 660 million people enjoy the Ikea food offer every year. With the global reach of Ikea we believe that we have a great opportunity to make a strong contribution to cut food waste and to inspire people to think differently and change their behaviour around food waste.”

The company states it wants to inspire and enable people to think differently about food waste and to incorporate sustainability into their everyday lives.