Home National ‘Beyond Imagination: Katy’s Quest to Tackle Australia’s Food Waste Crisis’

‘Beyond Imagination: Katy’s Quest to Tackle Australia’s Food Waste Crisis’

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Katy Barfield has observed an alarming trend in Australia, where millions of tonnes of surplus edible food are discarded daily, despite being perfectly safe for consumption. With a background as a bar owner, Barfield has seen firsthand how various types of food—including fruits, vegetables, meats, and confectionery—fail to make it through the supply chain and end up in landfill.

In response to this waste crisis, Barfield founded Yume, an innovative platform designed to intercept and sell surplus food before it goes to waste. The idea materialised during her time managing a bar in Melbourne, where she was shocked to see untouched food thrown away. This prompted her to contemplate the scale of food wastage across the industry, leading to her realisation that if just one establishment could waste so much, the cumulative impact from thousands of businesses would be staggering.

Yume operates by rescuing surplus food at the supplier level, addressing issues such as cancelled orders or items with minor imperfections. This food is then sold at significantly reduced prices to restaurants, caterers, and cafes. For instance, chicken that retails for $13 per kilo can be acquired for just $5 through Yume.

Barfield, who is also a co-founder of food rescue initiative Second Bite, highlights that an astonishing 42% of Australia’s food waste occurs before products even reach supermarkets. To illustrate the scale of this issue, she compares the daily accumulation of food waste to surpassing the height of Mount Everest.

Since its inception, Yume has successfully diverted 10 million kilograms of surplus food from landfills and is now focusing on extending its reach within the hospitality sector. Restaurants like Fonda, co-founded by David Youl, have partnered with Yume to minimise food waste by acquiring ingredients at discounted rates and implementing strategies to avoid over-ordering.

As Easter approaches, Youl notes that a significant amount of chocolate, simply due to its shape, gets wasted. He insists there’s a potential surplus of dairy chocolate reaching the market this season.

Barfield’s mission is to collaborate with more partners like Youl to promote food rescue practices widely, aiming to diminish Australia’s food waste footprint. Currently, she is developing logistical solutions to connect Yume with approximately 80,000 restaurants and cafes nationwide, beginning in Melbourne and eventually expanding elsewhere. This initiative represents a groundbreaking approach to tackling food waste in Australia.

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