Walk into any supermarket on a Friday evening and you’ll see the whole theatre of modern retail: gleaming rows of fresh produce, shelves stacked with bread still warm from the ovens, ready-to-eat meals promising convenience without compromise. What you don’t see, what most shoppers never think about, is what happens to all of it when the weekend ends.
Behind the scenes, once the lights dim and the last customer leaves, the food that didn’t sell or has expired begins its journey toward one of two fates: the donation bin, if it’s still safe to eat, or the waste stream. And in Europe’s tightly regulated food system, much of that waste is perfectly edible, at least for something.
According to ReFED, U.S. retailers alone generate more than 4.45 million tons of surplus food each year, much of which is landfilled or incinerated. In Europe, the scale is harder to hide. With strong waste reporting requirements and aggressive reduction targets under EU and national legislation, supermarket chains are not just in the spotlight; they are the spotlight.
U.S. retailers alone generate more than 4.45 million tons of surplus food each year
The Uncomfortable Truth
Supermarket executives know the numbers. They know that the majority of food waste in retail comes from high expectations around variety and freshness: shoppers expect a wide variety of types of apples, perfectly aligned; bakery shelves stocked until closing; and fresh fish on ice even minutes before closing time.
The cost of this abundance is steep. Food waste represents a direct financial loss and an environmental one: when it goes to landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than CO₂. WRAP, the UK’s leading waste reduction NGO, estimates that food waste is responsible for 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The trouble is, supermarkets are not only waste generators, they’re also high-visibility waste generators. Unlike food manufacturers or wholesalers, their operations are open to public scrutiny, and they sit at the center of the food supply chain. Consumers walk their aisles every day, governments see them as high-impact actors, and advocacy groups know that pressuring a retailer can trigger change across thousands of locations.
Why Supermarkets Feel the Pressure More Than Anyone
Three forces are closing in on supermarket chains:
1. Consumer scrutiny
Today’s shoppers are more sustainability-conscious than ever. PwC’s 2024 “Voice of the Consumer” survey found that over 80% of Millennials and Gen Z consumers would be willing to pay more for products from companies with strong environmental credentials. More than half say they would switch brands or stores for better sustainability practices.
Social media amplifies this pressure. A single viral post about food waste, featuring bins full of discarded bread or fruit, can damage years of brand-building efforts. Conversely, visible sustainability action can strengthen customer loyalty and differentiate the brand in a fiercely competitive market.
2. Regulatory mandates
In EU countries, supermarket food waste is tightly regulated. Only pre-consumer waste can be used as animal feed, and specific organic waste streams are prohibited. Waste separation at source is mandatory, and supermarkets are far better positioned than municipalities to comply, yet compliance adds cost and operational complexity.
The EU’s alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, to halve food waste by 2030, means the legal net is only going to tighten. In France, large retailers are already banned from destroying unsold edible food; in Italy, they are incentivised to donate or recycle it; in several countries, public reporting is mandatory.
3. Structural economics
Supermarkets face a structural dilemma: while each site generates a meaningful amount of organic waste, it is rarely enough to justify its own recycling or processing facility. This creates an economy of scale problem—waste has to be aggregated to make treatment viable. The result is reliance on transport, additional logistics costs, and coordination with third parties, all of which eat into margins. Unlike consumer pressure or regulatory mandates, this is not just about image or compliance—it’s about the fundamental economics of handling waste in a distributed retail network.
The Missed Opportunity Beneath the Pallets
There is an irony here: the very characteristics that make supermarkets a regulatory target also make them a perfect candidate for circular economy innovation.
- Their waste is already separated at source.
- It’s pre-consumer, and therefore legally compliant for animal feed in many countries.
- It’s consistent in quality (fresh produce, bakery items, prepared foods), not the mixed, contaminated material found in municipal waste streams.
This combination is gold for anyone trying to turn waste into value.
And there is one proven, scalable solution that fits supermarkets like a glove: upcycling food waste with insects, particularly Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae.
How Others Are Doing It
Freezem, in partnership with waste management company Shachar, has been trialing the use of surplus bakery and produce waste to feed BSF larvae, which are then processed into high-quality animal feed ingredients, closing the nutrient loop and reducing landfill impact.
In the United States, Tyson Foods, one of the country’s largest meat producers, has formed a joint venture with Dutch BSF pioneer Protix to build the first large-scale U.S. facility dedicated to upcycling food manufacturing byproducts into insect protein, oil, and frass. These outputs will supply the pet food, aquaculture, and livestock industries, demonstrating that insect-based waste valorization is moving beyond pilots and into the mainstream of global food production.
Other pioneers are companies like Entosystems in Canada and Goterra in Sydney, Australia, who are pioneering the bioconversion of food waste into animal feed and other byproducts.
ReFED, a leading U.S. food waste think tank, has identified insect farming as one of the most innovative and impactful recycling solutions, citing its ability to upcycle food waste into high-value animal feed and fertiliser while reducing greenhouse gas emissions significantly compared to landfill or composting.
The model works: larvae convert waste into high-protein meal for animal feed, nutrient-rich frass for fertiliser, and insect oil for aquaculture and pet food, creating revenue streams from what was once a disposal cost.
Waste Management Valorization
The real breakthrough lies in the ability to decouple insect breeding from waste management. FreezeM’s live-suspension BSF neonate technology makes this possible: instead of building complex insect breeding facilities, retailers and waste managers can simply receive ready-to-rear neonates and focus on turning their own waste into valuable products in a rearing facility.
Bioconversion turns a structural weakness into an advantage: supermarkets still consolidate waste, but the endpoint changes from disposal to value creation.
This approach aligns seamlessly with the logistics backbone of retail—Logistics Distribution Centers (LDCs). LDCs act as hubs: trucks deliver goods to stores and, on their return trip, pick up surplus products such as unsold bread, and usually consolidate them at the LDC. From there, waste is usually sent on to landfills or anaerobic digestion plants, adding cost and bureaucracy. With BSF technology, however, those same LDCs could host regional rearing hubs strategically located and sized based on their proximity to clusters of supermarkets or simply group the waste and send it to centralized production facilities, converting thousands of tons of surplus annually into protein, oil, and frass without the extra transport leg.
By shifting the focus from traditional waste disposal to local valorization, retailers gain lower costs, faster turnaround, new jobs at regional hubs, and a powerful sustainability story that resonates with both regulators and consumers.
Turning a Problem Into a Brand Asset
Imagine this: a customer shops at a store knowing that the bruised tomatoes, day-old bread, and unsold salad boxes will, within days, be transformed into sustainable pet food or organic fertiliser for local farms. The store can showcase the process, sell the end products, and tell a story no competitor can match.
This is more than compliance. It’s turning an operational headache into a competitive advantage, an environmental win, and a direct connection with the values of the modern consumer.
The Takeaway
Supermarkets are at the centre of the food system’s waste problem, but they also hold the keys to some of its most practical solutions. Regulatory pressure, consumer expectations, and the economics of waste disposal all point in the same direction: the need for efficient, compliant, and demonstrably sustainable waste management.
Black Soldier Fly technology offers precisely that. For supermarkets, it’s a chance to lead, to turn scrutiny into applause, and to close the loop in a way that both customers and regulators can see.
The waste is already there. The technology is ready. What’s left is the decision to act.