IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/inecol/v27y2023i4p1060-1075.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Introducing digital tools for sustainable food supply management: Tackling food loss and waste in industrial canteens

Author

Listed:
  • Ludovica Principato
  • Stefano Marchetti
  • Marco Barbanera
  • Luca Ruini
  • Leonardo Capoccia
  • Camilla Comis
  • Luca Secondi

Abstract

Reducing food waste is essential if we want to create a more sustainable food system, which is why halving per capita food waste by 2030 has been included in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate that by using digital tools to monitor food provisioning and management within canteens, it is possible to achieve a more sustainable food service management within industrial companies and to reduce the overall quantity and environmental impacts of food preparation and consumption thus achieving economic benefits. Longitudinal 2018 and 2019 data collected from the canteen of a major Italian food production company were analyzed. The results showed that the amount of food lost and wasted has decreased over time, reaping important environmental benefits and illustrating specific differences between the food lost in meal preparation and the food left on employees’ plates. It is therefore important to implement education initiatives and to use digital tools to share food‐related data collected within companies among both employees and kitchen and catering staff in order to raise awareness of their behavioral strengths and weaknesses. From this perspective, new interventions at both kitchen and customer/worker levels are introduced and discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Ludovica Principato & Stefano Marchetti & Marco Barbanera & Luca Ruini & Leonardo Capoccia & Camilla Comis & Luca Secondi, 2023. "Introducing digital tools for sustainable food supply management: Tackling food loss and waste in industrial canteens," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(4), pages 1060-1075, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:27:y:2023:i:4:p:1060-1075
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13391
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13391
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jiec.13391?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne D. Lassen & Lene M. Christensen & Max P. Spooner & Ellen Trolle, 2019. "Characteristics of Canteens at Elementary Schools, Upper Secondary Schools and Workplaces that Comply with Food Service Guidelines and Have a Greater Focus on Food Waste," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Iva Pires & Jerusa Machado & Ada Rocha & Margarida Liz Martins, 2022. "Food Waste Perception of Workplace Canteen Users—A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-12, January.
    3. Sara Williamson & Lauren G. Block & Punam A. Keller, 2016. "Of Waste and Waists: The Effect of Plate Material on Food Consumption and Waste," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 147-160.
    4. Ludovica Principato & Alessio Leo & Giovanni Mattia & Carlo Alberto Pratesi, 2021. "The next step in sustainable dining: the restaurant food waste map for the management of food waste," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2021(3), pages 189-207, September.
    5. Bettina A. Lorenz & Monika Hartmann & Stefan Hirsch & Olga Kanz & Nina Langen, 2017. "Determinants of Plate Leftovers in One German Catering Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Margarida Liz Martins & Ana Sofia Henriques & Ada Rocha, 2021. "Evaluation of Food Waste at a Portuguese Geriatric Institution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-8, February.
    7. Kallbekken, Steffen & Sælen, Håkon, 2013. "‘Nudging’ hotel guests to reduce food waste as a win–win environmental measure," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 325-327.
    8. Posch, Konstantin & Truden, Christian & Hungerländer, Philipp & Pilz, Jürgen, 2022. "A Bayesian approach for predicting food and beverage sales in staff canteens and restaurants," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 321-338.
    9. Vandermeersch, T. & Alvarenga, R.A.F. & Ragaert, P. & Dewulf, J., 2014. "Environmental sustainability assessment of food waste valorization options," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 57-64.
    10. Margot Dyen & Lucie Sirieix, 2016. "How does a local initiative contribute to social inclusion and promote sustainable food practices? Focus on the example of social cooking workshops," Post-Print hal-01506466, HAL.
    11. Christina Strotmann & Christine Göbel & Silke Friedrich & Judith Kreyenschmidt & Guido Ritter & Petra Teitscheid, 2017. "A Participatory Approach to Minimizing Food Waste in the Food Industry—A Manual for Managers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, January.
    12. Secondi, Luca & Principato, Ludovica & Laureti, Tiziana, 2015. "Household food waste behaviour in EU-27 countries: A multilevel analysis," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 25-40.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lingfei Wang & Yuqin Yang & Guoyan Wang, 2022. "The Clean Your Plate Campaign: Resisting Table Food Waste in an Unstable World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Ludovica Principato & Alessio Leo & Giovanni Mattia & Carlo Alberto Pratesi, 2021. "The next step in sustainable dining: the restaurant food waste map for the management of food waste," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2021(3), pages 189-207, September.
    3. Reynolds, Christian & Goucher, Liam & Quested, Tom & Bromley, Sarah & Gillick, Sam & Wells, Victoria K. & Evans, David & Koh, Lenny & Carlsson Kanyama, Annika & Katzeff, Cecilia & Svenfelt, Åsa & Jack, 2019. "Review: Consumption-stage food waste reduction interventions – What works and how to design better interventions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 7-27.
    4. Marzena Tomaszewska & Beata Bilska & Danuta Kołożyn-Krajewska, 2022. "Behavior of Polish Consumers in Relation to Meals Ordered in Food Service Establishments in the Context of Plate Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Cynthia Castro & Ekaterina Chitikova & Giulia Magnani & Julian Merkle & Maxi Heitmayer, 2023. "Less Is More: Preventing Household Food Waste through an Integrated Mobile Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-18, July.
    6. Dhruv Grewal & Abhijit Guha & Stephanie M. Noble & Kara Bentley, 2024. "The food production–consumption chain: Fighting food insecurity, loss, and waste with technology," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 1412-1430, October.
    7. Stephen S. Holden & Natalina Zlatevska & Chris Dubelaar, 2016. "Whether Smaller Plates Reduce Consumption Depends on Who's Serving and Who's Looking: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 134-146.
    8. Zhigang, X. & Zongli, Z. & Funing, Z. & Junfei, B., 2018. "The Effect of Preference for Variety and Portion Size on Consumer s Plate Waste in China s Foodservice Sector," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276951, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Ananda, Jayanath & Gayana Karunasena, Gamithri & Pearson, David, 2022. "Identifying interventions to reduce household food waste based on food categories," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    10. Effie Papargyropoulou & Julia K. Steinberger & Nigel Wright & Rodrigo Lozano & Rory Padfield & Zaini Ujang, 2019. "Patterns and Causes of Food Waste in the Hospitality and Food Service Sector: Food Waste Prevention Insights from Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-21, October.
    11. Matthew James Grainger & Lusine Aramyan & Simone Piras & Thomas Edward Quested & Simone Righi & Marco Setti & Matteo Vittuari & Gavin Bruce Stewart, 2018. "Model selection and averaging in the assessment of the drivers of household food waste to reduce the probability of false positives," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, February.
    12. Jones, R.E. & Speight, R.E. & Blinco, J.L. & O'Hara, I.M., 2022. "Biorefining within food loss and waste frameworks: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Luca Secondi, 2019. "Expiry Dates, Consumer Behavior, and Food Waste: How Would Italian Consumers React If There Were No Longer “Best Before” Labels?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-15, December.
    14. Qi, Danyi & Li, Ran & Penn, Jerrod & Houghtaling, Bailey & Prinyawiwatkul, Witoon & Roe, Brian E., 2021. "Does Nudging More Vegetable Consumption Result in More Waste? Evidence from a Randomized Dining Experiment," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313980, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Benjamin Hennchen & Michael Pregernig, 2020. "Organizing Joint Practices in Urban Food Initiatives—A Comparative Analysis of Gardening, Cooking and Eating Together," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, May.
    16. Gabriel, Andreas & Rombach, Meike & Wieser, Hannah & Bitsch, Vera, 2021. "Got waste: knowledge, behavior and self-assessment on food waste of university students in Germany," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 24(6), February.
    17. Neagoe Iulia Elena & Grădinaru Giani, 2024. "Technological Strategies for Reducting Food Waste," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 43-56.
    18. Danilo Bertoni & Daniele Cavicchioli & Franco Donzelli & Giovanni Ferrazzi & Dario G. Frisio & Roberto Pretolani & Elena Claire Ricci & Vera Ventura, 2018. "Recent Contributions of Agricultural Economics Research in the Field of Sustainable Development," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-20, December.
    19. Chen Liu & Trung Thang Nguyen, 2020. "Evaluation of Household Food Waste Generation in Hanoi and Policy Implications towards SDGs Target 12.3," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-20, August.
    20. Azzurra Annunziata & Massimiliano Agovino & Aniello Ferraro & Angela Mariani, 2020. "Household Food Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-13, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:27:y:2023:i:4:p:1060-1075. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1088-1980 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.