Data-Driven Food: 4 Insights for Food Manufacturers

Waste Management Data: Transform Information into Insights, Numbers into Visibility

Data continues to revolutionize food in just about every way. Farmers quantify all kinds of datapoints to ensure herd health and crop yield. Complex modeling helps CPGs determine what to put on shelves next. And food manufacturers have more tools than ever to improve their 1) Visibility, 2) Efficiency, 3) Sustainability and 4) Security from start to finish.

In a world of “more info, few insights,” Green Field Solutions is pioneering new ways for food and beverage companies to track, report and capitalize on their food waste systems. We understand that by decoding data, we are transforming information into insights, numbers into visibility that result in more sustainable food production.

GFS Director of Operations & Sales, Trent Small, joined Will Burkett, Stephanie Paine and Stacy Neal from the company’s Systems & Processes team to discuss food waste management data and how food manufacturers can leverage information to better manage their food waste, solid waste and recyclables.

1. Data is Visibility

Waste Management Data: Robust Reporting, Unparalleled Insight

It is crucial for companies to know what’s happening in every aspect of their business…waste management included. For food manufacturers, data analytics shines a light onto the health of their operations at a granular level. From site-to-site specificity to company-wide overview, visibility is the basis for identifying what’s working and what’s not in food manufacturing waste management.

So what is being tracked? Things like material handling, financials, quality and regulatory, and sustainability reporting are all things Green Field Solutions monitors and reports on for its clients. Understanding waste storage locations and limits, types of waste on site and disposal costs is also part of the equation.

“My job is to make information more accessible,” said Will Burkett, Systems Developer at GFS. “Accessible information allows clients to more easily lock onto the material they have transacted.”

“Being able to see the total picture of their data gives our clients a picture into their business that they may not have had before, allowing them to more easily see opportunities for change.”

As GFS monitors anywhere between 5 and 50 streams of data per client, we are identifying exactly what is leaving each facility and exactly where it’s going. Waste management data this specific can also signal trends, identify extraordinary events and pinpoint the information that is critical for short- and long-term operational decisions.

Dive Into the Data

Some of the data includes: Financial and volume settlement reports such as dates, weights, locations, descriptions, bol#, etc.; Organic materials and tonnage reports; Inorganic recyclables and tonnage reports; Monthly reports on materials and volumes; Customized sustainability reports.

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2. Data is Efficiency

Optimizing Waste Stream Efficiencies

Green Field Solutions has engineered the infrastructure to efficiently and effectively equip its clients with today’s most functional data. Real-life scenarios — such as load discrepancies, for example — can be addressed immediately with the oversight that GFS provides. Instead of finding out long after departure, now companies have the information they need to quickly address issues thanks to the assistance of our System & Process Team.

“We act as a customer service representative,” said Stephanie Paine, GFS Purchasing Coordinator. “We manage the day-to-day workings of a deal. If there is any discrepancy with a load, or if a third-party didn’t pick up on time, we are the first ones to be notified to correct it.”

Having this type of information is the starting point for improving efficiencies. Yet until now, collecting and analyzing it has been a timely and often painful task for food manufacturers.

“The work that goes into a client doing it themselves can be extraordinary,” said Trent Small. “In some cases, you’re talking about moving mountains.”

That’s because there’s just so much of it.

“My job is to collect load data, verify pricing and make sure the right information goes into the right buckets to be reported to the right client,” said Paine.

Data collection and analysis related to commercial food waste and recycling can be a tall order for any company. But with a partner like Green Field Solutions, that task becomes easier and more efficient.

CASE STUDY: Managing Third Parties

When an Italian candy maker known for its chocolate and hazelnut confection struggled to juggle its mass of waste stream vendors, it turned to Green Field Solutions. It had become overwhelming for the chocolatier to manage its many third-party service providers that were responsible for each organic by-product, solid waste and recycling material leaving its facilities. GFS brought all of their service providers under the GFS umbrella, relieving the candy maker of all the associated invoicing, reporting and other paperwork. It no longer has the hassle of dealing with multiple, third-party, service providers for every little thing. It was exactly the end-to-end service they were looking for.

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3. Data is Sustainability

Building a Sustainable World: Data & Information

Green Field Solutions not only supports its clients in the pursuit of their sustainability goals, it also helps them tell their sustainability story with easily generated metrics, reports for third-party audits and case studies. This quick-access information affords companies greater control over their carbon footprint and better commercial food waste management. It all starts with collecting, organizing and reporting data according to sustainability reporting standards, such as:

Global Reporting Index (GRI) module
Walmart Sustainability Index questionnaire
Science-based Targets (SBT) case studies
CDP reporting module
UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) reporting

What does a compelling sustainability story look like? It clearly communicates a company’s progress toward more sustainable food production with data and powerful case studies. Take a peek at some sustainability stories in our case studies.

CASE STUDY: Validating Sustainability

When a global food maker known for its homestyle meals needed help reaching its sustainability goals, it turned to GFS. Through careful measurement and tracking, GFS offered the company unparalleled visibility into its processes at the factory level, identifying where their waste was coming from and how to best repurpose and recycle it. The company’s sustainability story demonstrates how a circular economy works by keeping food co-products and by-products in the food supply chain. As a result of quantifying its waste streams, the company is now able to validate that it is, in fact, a leader in GHG reduction.

READ THE CASE STUDY

4. Data is Security

Protecting Your Brand: Traceability & Transparency

“Food companies today need to know exactly what’s leaving their facilities,” said Small. “If they don’t know where their waste streams are going, that’s a problem.”

From our people to our state-of-the-art data portal, Green Field Solutions is committed to keeping its clients’ data safe and brands secure. The majority of that commitment is simply keeping a paper trail.

GFS verifies that each and every material that leaves each and every facility is being used exactly where and how it’s intended. And as we move more than two billion pounds of materials every year—that’s a lot of goods going back and forth…and records that follow.

“Our quality regulatory groups recognize the importance of brand security and take the appropriate measures and processes to manage your brand as much as your product,” said Small. “If you don’t know where your waste streams are going, that’s a huge liability and risk.”

How it Works: Food Processing Waste Management

A company’s melange of waste streams go to a materials recovery facility where GFS can track it at many levels. Once removed from a facility, it probably won’t go to one place. For example, cardboard, organic materials and plastic have different end uses. Whether its food waste to animal feed or product packaging to recycling, whatever it is, it becomes unrecognizable to the brand. It is our responsibility not only to recycle the material, but also to track and make sure it is free of its original product labeling. No one wants to see their branded packaging go to a landfill when they thought it was supposed to be recycled! Green Field Solutions' stringent processes and procedures ensure your waste streams go where we say they are going to go.

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Get the GFS Portal

Whether you are looking to generate sustainability reports or need a nutritional analysis or economic modeling, Green Field Solutions offers comprehensive waste management data products and dynamic reporting with unparalleled capabilities.

“We make information accessible,” said Burkett. “These are things that are challenging and time consuming for customers to put together on their own.”

“But with the portal, just two clicks of a mouse, and you can have a good idea of where you are,” said Small.

And knowing where you are is a great starting point for better visibility, efficiency, sustainability and security throughout your company’s food waste systems.