FIGHT FOOD WASTE – ‘IT’S EASY AS’

The challenge

​Australian households waste 2.5 million tonnes of food per year according to the National Food Waste Baseline (Arcadis 2019). Tackling food waste in this part of the supply chain is the focus of our ENGAGE project Designing effective interventions to reduce household food waste. From a national benchmark survey, data was gathered from 5200 households. Amongst these findings was the startling fact that only 23% of household food managers recalled seeing anything about reducing food waste in the past 12 months. For there to be a reduction in household food waste, Australians need to know that this is an issue. We need to increase the number of Australians that recall seeing something about food waste as repetition is an important component of effective communication.

Our plan

Across 2020, Australians faced tough economic conditions as a result of the COVID-19 and associated economic disruptions. Therefore, getting the message out there that reducing food waste can save money became even more important. The aims of this project were two-fold:

  • Deliver a national digital public education campaign to get creative and impactful messages out to Australians on how they can save money in these tough economic times by reducing food waste
  • Investigate the impact of using these digital channels in delivering important food waste reduction messages.

The results

While we are not even close to having all the answers yet, the Fight Food Waste – ‘It’s Easy As’ campaign has given us more success than we forecast, and it has also given us some very valuable lessons for the future. After running this digital campaign on Facebook and Instagram, we have learned a lot! We have more questions than ever, but we’re sharing some of our key lessons (these are further outlined in the Food Waste Bite and the final report):

  • You need a solid strategy, so decide if you are after reach, or clicks or landing page visits
  • Don’t target your audiences (too much – food waste is a broad issue)
  • Less is more (when it comes to volume of creative assets)
  • To ask a question in your copy or not? This needs more research
  • Be ‘always on’ and ready for peak food waste times like Easter and Christmas
  • Opt for a more organic feel by using images rather than carousels, especially when you are a new brand.

We will be doing a thematic analysis on the commentary received in this campaign so watch this space for those results!

Timeline

July 2020 – November 2020

Project Manager

Tanya Wilkins FFW CRC Communication Manager

Miscellaneous

‘It’s Easy As’ website

Outputs/resources/publications

Food Waste Bite
Final Report