According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Food Waste Index Report, an estimated 1.05 billion tons of food – about 19% of global food available to consumers – is wasted annually, with another approximately 13% lost before retail, due to handling, storage, and transport inefficiencies. This gap is even more striking against the persistence of global hunger: the latest UN FAO figures estimate more than 700 million people remain undernourished, with progress toward Zero Hunger (SDG 2) stalling well before the 2030 target.
The so-called reactive supply chain (inefficient handovers, lack of data visibility, and poor coordination between actors) can mean more spoilage, higher costs, and missed opportunities to extend product life. CargoForwarder Global spoke with Hilde Havermans, Director Cargo Communities and Custom Solutions at Nallian, to explore blind spots and scalable solutions in today’s logistics networks.
From “boat grapes” to process pressure
In the early 20th century, products had to survive weak logistics. Grapes from Dalías (specifically the Almería region in Spain) known as ‘boat grapes’ or Uva de Embarque, were historically exceptional for export due to their unique ability to survive long journeys, their thick skin, late harvesting season, and high-quality, sweet taste. Their qualities were already reported in 1915 by the Agricultural Journal.
Today, that logic has flipped. Modern logistics infrastructure has improved, but the pressure has shifted from the product to the process. Losses now occur less because food cannot survive transport, and more because supply chains fail at forecasting, with delayed handovers, inconsistent temperature control, and siloed data coordination.
Environmental and operational impact
Havermans explains how the reduction of CO₂ comes through tangible measures with more energy-efficient planes, electrified vehicles, lower fuel consumption, and smarter logistics. But improvements in handover processes and quality controls also lead to faster transit times, smoother operations, and less damage and spoilage.
“If you move perishables one day faster, you gain one extra day of shelf life in stores, consumers have more time to purchase and use the product, and less food is thrown away,” Havermans adds.
Food waste is a significant sustainability issue. Reducing waste cuts unnecessary production, lowers environmental impact, and increases the amount of food available for people who need it.
Logistics blind spots
Today’s supply chain still lacks real-time visibility and shared data. The actors react after the previous step is completed. In air cargo perishables flows from Africa to Europe, for example, handling preparation at destination frequently starts only once goods physically arrive. This increases dwell time, raises temperature-excursion risk, and increases spoilage.
Brussels Airport’s Digital Green Lane, enabled by Nallian’s BRUcloud platform, shows how these blind spots can be removed. Advance data sharing and digital time-slot booking enable preparation ahead of arrival, reducing bottlenecks in ground handling, and lowering temperature deviation risks for perishables.
Consistent exchange of data across the whole supply chain improves transparency and forecasting so the stakeholders can plan ahead. This removes logistics blind spots and allows parallel preparation instead of step-by-step waiting. The impact: faster handovers, shorter lead times, and less waste – especially for perishables, Havermans adds.
Meat and pharmaceutical goods: even higher environmental footprint
Optimizing logistics won’t change consumer diets, but faster delivery means fresher products, longer shelf life in-store, and lower production costs – especially for high-impact products. Eurostat reports food waste in the EU at roughly 130 kg per person per year. Causes such as aesthetics, confusion about ‘best before’ versus ‘use by’ are directly linked to the final consumer; however, a short shelf life in retail and cold chain failures have disproportionate impact for meat and pharmaceuticals.
Meat has a much higher environmental footprint than plant-based food due to its production intensity. Even more critical is the waste of pharmaceutical products which need special processes to minimize the environmental impact of their chemicals.Temperature excursions – defined as exposure outside the specified thermal range – directly degrade sensitive medicines and vaccines and are a well-documented risk in cold chain logistics. Cold-chain failures in pharmaceutical logistics are estimated by industry analyses to cost the sector tens of billions of dollars annually, primarily due to temperature excursions and handling deviations. CEIV Pharma and IATA’s Temperature Control Regulations focus on rigorous, standardized handling to reduce these risks.
Value proposition
Digital process control reduces waste, emissions, and cost at the same time, turning ESG goals into measurable business results. Profitability is essential – without it, the model doesn’t work. Sustainability initiatives also need a clear business case; people make decisions on tangible benefits and “what’s in it for me”, Havermans says.
Inefficiencies across the chain directly impact cost, pricing pressure, and profitability. Helping customers extract the real business value from digitalization and automation by streamlining workflows and making process performance measurable, creates operational value that can be shared by making processes transparent and explainable, even in complex, multi-party supply chains.
Today we operate in high-pressure environments where ESG targets are pushed down the chain. This pressure eases when profits and benefits come along.
Final note
UNEP and FAO show that food waste and supply chain inefficiencies remain structurally high, with most waste occurring downstream, while significant losses still occur during handling, storage, and transport. Globally, around 1.05 billion tons of food waste are generated annually, according to the latest UNEP estimates. Logistics cannot solve hunger alone, but faster handovers, better cold chain integrity, and real-time data sharing directly reduce avoidable loss. Sustainability targets only become realistic when efficiency gains translate into measurable commercial value. That is where logistics moves from being part of the problem to becoming part of the solution.
