ISO 20001:2026, explained
The first international standard dedicated to managing food loss and waste is here. What it is, who it is for, and how food businesses can get ready, from a food loss and waste specialist who works with these requirements every day.
- StandardISO 20001:2026
- Full titleFood loss and waste management system: Requirements for the prevention and minimization of food loss and waste across the food supply chain
- TypeManagement system requirements
- ScopeThe whole food supply chain
- Official pageiso.org
A management system for food loss and waste
For years, companies that wanted to tackle food loss and waste had methods for measuring it, such as the FLW Protocol, and targets such as SDG 12.3, but no dedicated standard for managing it. ISO 20001:2026 fills that gap.
It sets out requirements for an organisation to prevent and minimise food loss and waste in a structured, repeatable way, across its own operations and its part of the food supply chain. As a requirements standard, it describes what a management system must do and gives auditors and certification bodies a common reference.
If you already run ISO 9001, ISO 14001 or ISO 22000, much of the logic will feel familiar: understanding your context, leadership commitment, planning and objectives, resources and competence, operational control, performance evaluation and continual improvement. The difference is the focus: food that is lost or wasted, why it happens, and how to prevent it.
Any organisation that handles food
The standard covers the whole food supply chain, so it is relevant to:
- Primary producers: farms, growers and fisheries, where losses at harvest and post-harvest are often the least measured.
- Manufacturers and processors, especially those already certified to FSSC 22000, which includes its own food loss and waste requirements.
- Retailers and wholesalers, where surplus, returns and markdowns shape what is wasted along the chain.
- Food service: restaurants, hotels, and public and private catering.
Many organisations will adopt ISO 20001 for the same reasons they adopt other ISO standards: customer and retailer expectations, credible ESG reporting, and the financial case. Food that is wasted carries the full cost of buying, producing, storing and disposing of it.
Getting ready for ISO 20001, step by step
Preparing for ISO 20001 comes down to three things:
- Know your numbers. A reliable baseline of where food is lost and what it costs.
- Know your gaps. How your current practices compare with the standard.
- Close them. A practical system your teams can run and auditors can verify.
Every organisation starts from a different place. I help you work out the right route for yours.
From gap assessment to audit-ready
- ISO 20001 gap assessment: a full, clause-by-clause review. If you want a lighter first look, start with the one-day Quick Scan.
- Baseline measurement and FLW cost quantification.
- Implementation roadmap: policy, objectives, procedures, records and KPIs.
- Integration with the FSSC 22000 v7 FLW requirements, ISO 22000 or ISO 14001 so you run one system, not three.
- Team training and a pre-audit mock review.
I prepare organisations for certification. Certification itself is carried out by an independent, accredited certification body.
Find out how far you are from ISO 20001
Start with a one-day Quick Scan, or go straight to a full ISO 20001 gap assessment.