Globally, one third of food produced is wasted. In the UK, 72% of the post-farm food waste is attributed to consumers, making food consumption the largest single contributor towards food waste. Moreover, 60% of the domestic food waste is estimated to be avoidable. Consumer food waste (CFW) has the highest level of environmental and economic negative impacts compared to waste generated at other stages of the supply chain. This is due to the significant additional amount of resources used to produce the final food products, highlighting a need to encourage more efficient and environmentally sustainable consumption.
PROJECT AIM
This overall aim of this project is to bridge the gap between food manufacturing and food consumption through a root cause analysis of main factors contributing to generation of CFW, and to use this new knowledge to influence consumer behavior towards reducing food waste.
METHODOLOGY
By strengthening the relationship between manufacturers and consumers through better understanding and evaluating CFW, the research will identify specific improvements in manufacturing and retail activities that will reduce CFW generation .
This to be achieved through:
• acquiring a deeper understanding of consumers,
• providing support for various fosoedr vices, and
• using new advances in information technology to communicate more effectively with consumers to better meet their needs.
