Goal Setting & Commitment

Setting a food waste reduction target is essential for driving change. Setting a target states your ambition, and ambition motivates action. With clear targets in place, organisations can track progress, celebrate success, and make meaningful strides towards reducing food waste.

Set a food waste reduction target

Effective food waste targets are specific, measurable, and best defined by your individual waste reduction needs. Begin by reviewing your baseline food waste audit data to understand where food waste is occurring, and where you are likely to see the biggest impact. Consider this in relation to what resources and capabilities you have within your team. Allow this to shape your food waste reduction target(s). Set a realistic reduction goal over a defined timeframe. Many organisations start with a 5-10% reduction target in the first year, focusing on controllable waste sources and achievable practice changes. Targets should balance ambition with feasibility, and be reviewed regularly as systems, data quality, and staff confidence improve. Importantly, targets should support resident wellbeing and food quality, rather than incentivizing restriction or reduced choice.

Best practice is to:

• ·  Set a target that meets or exceeds Sustainable Development Goals target 12.3 (a 30% reduction)

• ·  Include the target in public documents, i.e your sustainability or annual report for accountability

Resources to support discussion with staff and building awareness of your target:

• Food waste awareness posters
• Project participation newsletter
• Discussion points for management to share with staff
• Food waste target poster
• Tips when discussing food waste project with staff

Nominate a food waste champion

Having a dedicated ‘champion’ or ‘champions’ for food waste reduction is key to driving lasting change within an organisation. Champions inspire motivation, enthusiasm and commitment to the project. Ideal champions are people who supports the project’s goals, bring energy and enthusiasm to their role, is respected by colleagues, and is eager to actively contribute to the program's development. With the right champion(s) in place, food waste reduction becomes a shared priority, fostering a culture of action across the organisation. In the project pilot study, some sites appointed a champion for each team in their organisation which helped create organisation-wide support for food waste reduction.