Evaluating the carbon emissions of alternative food provision systems: A comparative analysis of recipe box and supermarket equivalents

Xiaojun Wang, Shukai Zhang and Niels Schneider

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2021, vol. 173, issue C

Abstract: Given the rapid growth of the online recipe box market, this research evaluates the relative environmental performances of an online recipe box delivery model and supermarket grocery retail shopping. The evaluation was conducted via a thorough comparison of the associated carbon emissions of meals provided by an online recipe delivery service to the equivalent meals from a supermarket, accounting for differences in respective supply chains and their food loss and waste. The comparative results show that, on average, the carbon emissions of the five meals studied within the recipe box model are 10.8% less than those of the equivalent meals bought from a supermarket retail store. Overall, online recipe box delivery services can improve resource efficiency compared to supermarket grocery shopping, especially at the retail operation and household consumption stages. Our findings can inform environmentally conscious consumers and provide guidance to food organisations, including recipe box firms and supermarkets, in achieving their sustainability goals.

Keywords: Food supply chain; Life cycle assessment; Carbon emissions; Recipe boxes; Alternative food provision (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162521005321
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:173:y:2021:i:c:s0040162521005321

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121099

Access Statistics for this article

Technological Forecasting and Social Change is currently edited by Fred Phillips

More articles in Technological Forecasting and Social Change from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().