Manual inventory counting fuels global meat waste
New data released today by Avery Dennison reveals a staggering visibility gap in the global food supply chain, with 67% of retailers still relying on manual processes to manage their inventory.
This reliance on outdated methods is a primary driver of record-breaking waste levels, particularly within the meat department.
According to the findings published ahead of the UN’s International Day of Zero Waste, meat waste alone is projected to cost the retail food industry $94 billion in 2026. This figure represents nearly a fifth of the total $540 billion economic toll of global food waste, making it the most expensive category in the grocery sector, surpassing both produce and bakery items.
The challenge of managing meat inventory is being intensified by a perfect storm of volatile consumer trends and economic pressures. Approximately 72% of retail leaders identified meat-related waste as their single greatest operational hurdle.
A significant portion of this difficulty stems from the rise in high-protein diet trends, which a quarter of retailers say has created an appetite for meat that they are struggling to forecast accurately. This unpredictability is further compounded by inflation, which 74% of industry leaders say has made demand forecasting nearly impossible, leading to frequent over-ordering and preventable spoilage.
Consumer behaviour at the shelf is also playing a role in the escalating financial losses. Nearly 30% of retailers noted that shoppers are increasingly reluctant to purchase meat products as they approach their expiry dates.
Without real-time digital visibility, store associates often miss the critical window for strategic markdowns, resulting in high-value products being discarded rather than sold. The report suggests that if these manual inefficiencies persist, the annual cost of meat waste will climb to $103 billion by 2030, contributing to a cumulative global food waste bill of $3.4 trillion over the next five years.
In response to these mounting losses, industry giants like Walmart are beginning to transition away from manual counts toward digital identification solutions. By implementing RFID-enabled labels in meat, deli, and bakery departments, retailers are giving individual food items a “digital footprint.” This technology allows associates to track use-by dates instantly and manage stock rotation with surgical precision.
Julie Vargas, vice president and general manager of enterprise intelligent labels growth at Avery Dennison, notes that modernising inventory is the most immediate lever retailers can pull to protect margins while reducing environmental impact, effectively turning uncertainty into actionable insight.
The urgency of this technological shift is underscored by the looming 2030 deadline for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which aims to halve global food waste.
Current data suggests the industry is off-track, with 27% of retail leaders admitting they will likely miss the target and one in ten reporting that their waste-reduction projects have been put on hold entirely. Sustainability experts argue that the $540 billion opportunity to transform the grocery sector relies on monitoring products through every stage of the value chain.
By moving from reactive to proactive management, retailers can reclaim value that is currently being lost to the invisible inefficiencies of manual record-keeping.
