There are plenty of ways to reduce food loss, but to keep things simple, we share two practical and workable methods. Taken from our experience collaborating with growers, packers, aggregators, exporters, and retailers, both tackle a different stage. 1. Improve Grading Techniques At the farm level, poorly timed harvest and inadequate techniques are the two main contributors to food loss. Both result in inferior desired attributes. Pick immature fruits and vegetables, and the quality, taste, and appearance go for a toss. Harvest them too late, and the perishable produce doesn’t reach the market on time. A simple fix is using produce quality meters. The tech lets farmers know when their produce is perfect for harvest, reducing loss and crop spoilage. Another is AI-based sorting and grading tools. When humans sort and grade produce, errors occur due to inaccuracy. However, when AI-powered tools grade quality, they do it accurately and swiftly. 2. Optimize Processing And Packaging Processing and packaging are one of the thorniest challenges in combating food loss because substandard facilities with poor handling and incompetent grading cause a lot of waste. Unique films and coating that extend the shelf-life of produce are one way to improve packaging and lessen food loss. But a more practical solution and one any food distribution business can practice is to pack loose produce like potatoes in small packets. Why? One, packaging reduces handling damage. Two, while no consumer is ready to buy the last few potatoes left on the shelf, they are more than happy to pick up the last pack of potatoes on the store shelf!