Cargill is reducing food waste, one innovation at a time

Every day, more than 1 billion meals are lost to food waste. That’s nearly one-fifth of all the food produced globally.  From recovering more meat during processing to extending shelf life, and even turning chocolates into feed, Cargill is innovating to waste less and nourish more.

 

Seeing what the eye can’t: More meat, less waste

In a meat processing plant in Friona, Texas, and others like it, workers trim meat every day. But even the most skilled hands can miss what technology can now catch and save.

That’s where CarVe comes in, Cargill’s proprietary, patent-pending technology. CarVe uses computer vision to measure red meat yield in real time, giving frontline managers instant insights and the ability to share feedback with employees to improve their technique. 

This helps keep more protein in the food system that otherwise would be lost in the process. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the U.S. produces more than 27 billion pounds of beef annually. Even a one percent yield improvement can save hundreds of millions of pounds of meat.

“Before CarVe, yield data was always yesterday’s news,” says Leon Fletcher, an operations leader for Cargill. “Now, we’re making decisions in the moment and saving product that would’ve been lost.”

With the U.S. cattle supply at its lowest level in years, improving yield matters more than ever. CarVe is one of the ways Cargill is applying smart technology to get more from every animal, reduce waste, and make protein production more efficient and sustainable from start to finish.

 

Keeping good food on the shelf longer

“People buy with their eyes,” says Anna Snow, a research and development leader for Cargill. “If food doesn’t look fresh, it often doesn’t get a second chance even when it’s perfectly safe.”

That’s why Cargill Natural Flavors was developed to address a common shopper misconception: that gray coloring on ground beef means it’s spoiled.

In reality, ground beef naturally loses its red color over time due to oxidation, caused by exposure to light and air. But for many consumers, color is a key indicator of freshness. As the color fades, so does the chance of a sale. This often leads retailers to discard safe, high-quality meat.

Cargill Natural Flavors is a proprietary blend of natural antioxidants that slows oxidation. It helps meat keep its red color and fresh flavor safely for up to five additional days, keeping quality meat on store shelves and family tables longer. 

“By extending shelf life, we’re not just helping products stay on the shelf longer, we’re reducing waste and making the most of the resources it took to produce that food in the first place,” Anna says. 

Cargill Natural Flavors has already helped preserve more than 1.5 million pounds of ground beef, with expansions underway to include patties and whole muscle cuts.

 

Turning chocolate waste into animal feed

What doesn’t make it into candy wrappers at Hershey now helps feed livestock, thanks to a long-standing partnership with Cargill.

At Cargill’s Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, facility, surplus chocolate and candy are upcycled into “candy meal,” a high-energy, nutrient-rich feed for cows, pigs and other animals. The process removes packaging, recycles materials and blends the rest into a safe, effective feed ingredient. To date, the effort has repurposed around 130,000 tons of candy waste. 

It’s one more way Cargill is reducing waste, supporting farmers and creating value from what once went unused.

Find out more about Cargill’s ambition to have the most sustainable supply chains in the world.

 

 

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