“Low-Hanging Fruits” against Food Waste and Their Status Quo in the Food Processing Industry

Florian Rösler (), Judith Kreyenschmidt and Guido Ritter
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Florian Rösler: iSuN—Institute of Sustainable Nutrition, FH Münster University of Applied Sciences, 48149 Münster, Germany
Judith Kreyenschmidt: Department of Fresh Produce Logistics Professorship for Quality & Processing Fresh Produce, Hochschule Geisenheim University, 65366 Geisenheim, Germany
Guido Ritter: iSuN—Institute of Sustainable Nutrition, FH Münster University of Applied Sciences, 48149 Münster, Germany

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Food processing companies have a financial interest in saving resources. However, they have different perceptions of the relevance of the issue of food waste. Hence, companies deal with the topic of waste in different ways. Some companies do implement measures systematically, others do not. The aim of this study is to analyze which recommendations against food loss and waste are effective, easy to implement, and are already part of the status quo in the food processing industry. For this purpose, based on the results of a previous exploratory study, a standardized questionnaire was developed and sent to food processing companies. From the 82 participating companies, 19 of 53 recommendations were classified as basic recommendations and 22 of the 53 recommendations were classified as ‘low-hanging fruits’. The results showed that companies rated the recommendations that were best implemented as very effective and easy to implement. Moreover, the results showed that the food processing industry’s strength in preventing food waste relate to the internal processes. However, at the borders of the value chain, there are still deficits in terms of exchange and communication with other stakeholders.

Keywords: food loss; recommendations for food industry; basic recommendations; good practice; questionnaire (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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