U.S. Food Waste Pact Report Shows Less Food Being Wasted In Retail and Foodservice Sectors
[CHICAGO, IL, February, 25, 2026] — A new report from the U.S. Food Waste Pact (Pact), a collaborative initiative of 30 food businesses across the country led by nonprofits ReFED and World Wildlife Fund, shows reductions in the amount of food being wasted nationwide by grocery retail and foodservice companies in 2024 compared to 2023. The results are good news for the food system, as it tries to address its 60-million-ton food waste problem.
This is the second year that Pact signatories have reported these data, with 2023 results serving as the inaugural benchmark for food waste in these sectors. Unsold food rates, the metric that most accurately reflects waste reduction in the retail sector, decreased by 1.1% from 2023 to 2024, despite an increase in tons wasted. This means that while market fluctuations and business performance across the retail sector resulted in more food passing through grocery stores, food waste still decreased based on the share of retail inventory that went unsold. The food efficiency rate, the metric that most accurately reflects waste reduction in the foodservice sector, decreased by 5.7% from 2023 to 2024, which was accompanied by a 4,000 ton reduction in waste and a $15.9 million decrease in the wholesale cost of surplus food.