Disclosure and assessment of unrecorded food waste at retail stores

Reducing food waste at stores is a huge challenge for retailers, that are called to improve the efficiency of their operations in order to reduce the quantity of food that goes discarded. Some studies suggest that part of the food products removed from sale are not recorded as waste, but the quantity and features of this unrecorded food waste is largely unknown. The underestimation of retail food waste data hinders the effectiveness of actions against food waste at the store level, as managers may build their decisions on unreliable information. In this study we directly measure the waste of 9 food categories in a panel of 13 supermarkets in Italy. An improved recording practice was applied during the 12 months of the study, allowing to detect all the food wasted, including what usually remains unrecorded. By comparing the data gathered during the study with those recorded at the same stores prior the application of the improved recording routine, meaningful quantities of unrecorded food waste emerge for many food categories, especially fruits and vegetables, packed cold cuts and groceries. The rate of food waste in value raises from 1.00% to 1.35% on comparable periods, as a result of the implementation of the improved recording routine. However, the rate of food waste in value decreases during the study period, suggesting that a more accurate recording procedure may sensitize the staff over the issue of food waste, thus preventing to some extent its generation. A new model of food waste recording is therefore proposed, with a meaningful potential to improve the quality of the data available to store managers and, at the same time, to reduce the economic losses due to in-store food waste.