CPMA advances action to reduce food loss and waste across the produce supply chain

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) is advancing a coordinated, sector-led response to food loss and waste (FLW), focused on practical policy, industry collaboration, and targeted investment to unlock environmental and economic value across Canada’s fresh produce supply chain.

“Food loss and waste is one of the most complex challenges facing our sector—but it is also one of the most important opportunities,” says Ron Lemaire, CPMA President. “By working together across industry and government, we can reduce waste, unlock new value, and strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of Canada’s fresh produce industry.”

Through a series of recent initiatives, CPMA is strengthening the evidence base, showcasing industry leadership, and convening stakeholders to better measure, reduce and recover value from FLW.

New systems analysis highlights scale—and opportunity

In April 2026, CPMA released its member-only report, A Systems Analysis of Food Loss and Waste in Canada’s Produce Sector, examining FLW across the supply chain. The report highlights that nearly half of all food produced in Canada is lost or wasted annually, with fresh produce particularly impacted and that approximately 41.7% of that loss is potentially edible and recoverable.

“Too often, food loss and waste is viewed only through an environmental lens,” added Lemaire. “Our work clearly shows it is also a system-wide economic inefficiency—one that affects business performance, food affordability, and the long-term sustainability of our sector.”

The analysis identifies key drivers—including perishability, supply chain complexity, cosmetic standards, and consumer behaviour—and highlights priorities such as standardized measurement, cold chain investment, innovation, and improved policy alignment.

From insight to action: Showcasing industry leadership

To promote best practices, CPMA has launched its first series of Food Loss and Waste Use Cases, highlighting practical solutions already underway, including surplus management, partnerships with food rescue organizations and processors, logistics and packaging investments, shelf-life extension, and development of alternative markets for surplus and “imperfect” produce.

Credit: American University

Elevating the dialogue: Enabling conditions for value creation

CPMA has also expanded engagement through the release of its Food Loss and Waste Business Session Podcast from the 2026 Convention and Trade Show in Toronto, which explored the conditions needed to increase the economic value of FLW, including policy and regulatory alignment, operational realities of food rescue and redistribution systems, value-chain economics, and viable markets for surplus produce.

“What we heard clearly from across the value chain is that solutions exist—but they need the right conditions to scale,” noted Lemaire. “That means alignment between policy, infrastructure, and market incentives with the realities of highly perishable products.”

A call for practical, coordinated policy action

Building on this work, CPMA is calling for greater industry-government collaboration to support scalable, impact-driven solutions. Priority areas include standardized measurement and reporting frameworks, investment in cold chain, storage, and logistics infrastructure, enhanced incentives for food donation, redistribution, and value-added processing, harmonized date labelling and consumer education, and policies that recognize the role of packaging and innovation in reducing loss.

Next phase: Scaling solutions across the sector

CPMA will continue to work closely with members and partners to expand the collection and share best practices and industry use cases while supporting pilot projects that demonstrate scalable FLW mitigation and value recovery solutions. It will also strengthen collaboration across industry, government, and solution providers, and advance targeted advocacy efforts to secure the support required to maximize the value of fresh produce surplus.

About the Canadian Produce Marketing Association

Based in Ottawa, Ontario, CPMA is a not-for-profit organization that has been supporting a diverse membership made up of every segment of the fresh produce supply chain for over 100 years. CPMA represents more than 900 member companies responsible for 90% of the fresh fruits and vegetable sales in Canada and an industry that contributes over $18 billion to Canada’s GDP annually, supports 188,000 jobs, and improves the health and productivity of Canadians.