Food Losses in the Protein Crop Supply Chain

This study evaluates food losses in the French protein crop chain (peas, faba beans, lupins), estimating that harvest and processing stages incur losses of approximately 22,000 t (6% of production) and an additional 1,000 t of water-soluble sugars. It highlights that many by-products are redirected to animal feed and thus are not counted as losses. The main strategies to reduce losses involve combining genetic and agronomic improvements to optimize crop canopy architecture together with advanced harvesting equipment. Further levers include enhancing nutritional quality through breeding and management, developing new fractionation and transformation technologies, improving consumer awareness, and better organizing the supply chain to expand human food markets.