10 ESG Investments for 2021 - Part 10

Food can be recycled!

Andrew Willis 28 May, 2021 | 4:28AM
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It’s time for our final idea on Morningstar Sustainalytics’ “10 for 2021,” a series in which we present investors with 10 ESG investment themes that can positively contribute to advancing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

So far this year, we focused on improving efficiencies around production, packaging and other inputs in the food space. But what about the outputs? Asides from recycling, can we do more to ensure we’re not wasting food?

Well for one, we can reuse food – not dumpster diving! We’re talking about perfectly good, packaged food that might not have sold yet at a supermarket. Or snacks that still might be good, but are approaching their expiry date. We now have the opportunity to save up to 2.1 billion tonnes of food, per year, by 2030.

U.K. food retailer, Tesco (TSCDY), for example, takes some of those outputs and turns them into inputs. They were the first UK food retailer to report on waste data, including the amount of redistributed food surplus. Other companies are also using food waste as ingredients and inputs for other food products.

This is the 2nd time we’re mentioning Tesco again in the series because we think they’re a leader in addressing waste in their business. They want to do the right thing but it also benefits their business and shareholders by addressing food security. And with food security affecting the wider society and economy, it might be something all of us want to invest in.  

For Morningstar, I’m Andrew Willis.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar Rating
Tesco PLC ADR14.26 USD-0.49

About Author

Andrew Willis

Andrew Willis  is Senior Editor at Morningstar Canada. He previously produced content for Fidelity Investments and finance industry events for Euromoney Institutional Investor and has written in the past for Thomson Reuters and CNN. Follow him on Twitter @Andrew_M_Willis.

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