Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Causes of Food Loss and Waste: An Analysis Along the Food Supply Chain

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Industrial Engineering and Operations Management I (IJCIEOM 2018)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics ((PROMS,volume 280))

Abstract

The waste of food represents a missed opportunity to feed the growing world population. This is the main reason why member states of the European Union are committed to halve the food loss and waste by 2030. To reach this goal, researchers and practitioners are working to find solutions on the level of prevention of food loss and waste. However, to adequately tackling the problem, researchers and relevant stakeholders need to understand the origins of food loss and waste for the different stages of the supply chain. To help with that, this paper reviews the main causes of food loss and waste for each stage of the supply chain. In conclusion, the most urgent causes of food loss and waste to tackle seem to be the demand forecasting, the handling and operational bad practices, the specifications set by retailers regarding weight, size and colour, and the decay of the products quality. Therefore, since these are common to almost all stages of the supply chain, researchers and practitioners should form multi-disciplinary teams to develop solutions for food loss and waste prevention, based on concepts of supply chain cooperation and coordination, seeking to improve the organization and the visibility of information along supply chains.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Colwill, J., Despoudi, S., Bhamra, R.S.: A review of resilience within the UK food manufacturing sector. In: Goh, Y.M., Case, K. (eds.) Advances in Manufacturing Technology XXX: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, pp. 451–456. Loughborough University’s Institutional Repository, UK (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Halloran, A., Clement, J., Kornum, N., Bucatariu, C., Magid, J.: Addressing food waste reduction in Denmark. Food Policy 49, 294–301 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Arivazhagan, R., Geetha, P., Ravilochanan, P.: Assessment of wastages in fruit supply chain with respect to fruit processing units in Tamilnadu, India. Int. Food Res. J. 23(2), 723–732 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Priefer, C., Jörissen, J., Bräutigam, K.-R.: Food waste prevention in Europe – a cause-driven approach to identify the most relevant leverage points for action. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 109, 155–165 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. FUSIONS: Recommendations and guidelines for a common European food waste policy framework, Bologna (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Porter, S.D., Reay, D.S., Higgins, P., Bomberg, E.: A half-century of production-phase greenhouse gas emissions from food loss & waste in the global food supply chain. Sci. Total Environ. 571, 721–729 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. FUSIONS: Definitional framework for food waste - full report (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bagherzadeh, M., Inamura, M., Jeong, H.: Food waste along the food chain. OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers, No. 71

    Google Scholar 

  9. Martínez, Z., Menacho, P., Pachón-Ariza, F.: Food loss in a hungry world, a problem? Agronomía Colombiana 32(2), 283–293 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mena, C., Terry, L.A., Williams, A., Ellram, L: Causes of waste across multi-tier supply networks: cases in the UK food sector. Int. J. Prod. Econ. 152, 144–158 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  11. de Steur, H., Wesana, J., Dora, M.K., Pearce, D., Gellynck, X.: Applying Value Stream Mapping to reduce food losses and wastes in supply chains: a systematic review. Waste Manag. 58, 359–368 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bernstad, A.K., Cánovas, A., Valle, R.: Consideration of food wastage along the supply chain in lifecycle assessments: a mini-review based on the case of tomatoes. Waste Manag. Res. 35(1), 29–39 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Calvo-Porral, C., Medín, A.F., Losada-López, C.: Can marketing help in tackling food waste?: proposals in developed countries. J. Food Prod. Mark. 23(1), 42–60 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Corrado, S., Ardente, F., Sala, S., Saouter, E.: Modelling of food loss within life cycle assessment: from current practice towards a systematization. J. Clean. Prod. 140, 847–859 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Magalhães, V.S.M., Ferreira, L.M.D.F., Silva, C.: An overview on the research status of the problem of food loss and waste along food supply chains. In: 47th International Conference on Computers & Industrial Engineering (CIE47), Lisbon (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  16. WRAP: Estimates of food surplus and waste arisings in the UK, UK (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Richter, B., Bokelmann, W.: Approaches of the German food industry for addressing the issue of food losses. Waste Manag. 48, 423–429 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Plazzotta, S., Manzocco, L., Nicoli, M.C.: Fruit and vegetable waste management and the challenge of fresh-cut salad. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 63, 51–59 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Nahman, A., de Lange, W.: Costs of food waste along the value chain: evidence from South Africa. Waste Manag. 33, 2493–2500 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. de Lange, W., Nahman, A.: Costs of food waste in South Africa: incorporating inedible food waste. Waste Manag. 40, 167–172 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Beausang, C., Hall, C., Toma, L.: Food waste and losses in primary production: qualitative insights from horticulture. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 126, 177–185 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Gadde, L.E., Amani, P.: Food supply in a network context: an alternative framing and managerial consequences in efforts to prevent food waste. Br. Food J. 118(6), 1407–1421 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Sibomana1, M.S., Workneh1, T.S., Audain1, K.: A review of postharvest handling and losses in the fresh tomato supply chain: a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Food Secur. 8, 389–404 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Parfitt, J., Barthel, M., Macnaughton, S.: Food waste within food supply chains: quantification and potential for change to 2050. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365, 3065–3081 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Kowalska, A.: The issue of food losses and waste and its determinants. LogForum - Scientific Journal of Logistics 13(1), 7–18 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Macheka, L., Ngadze, R.T., Manditsera, F.A., Mubaiwa, J., Musundire, R.: Identifying causes of mechanical defects and critical control points in fruit supply chains: an overview of a banana supply chain. Int. J. Postharvest Technol. Innov. 3(2), 109–122 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Akkerman, R., Farahani, P., Grunow, M.: Quality, safety and sustainability in food distribution: a review of quantitative operations management approaches and challenges. OR Spectrum 32, 863–904 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Lebersorger, S., Schneider, F.: Food loss rates at the retail, influencing factors and reasons as a basis for waste prevention measures. Waste Manag. 34(11), 1911–1919 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Buzby, J.C., Bentley, J.T., Padera, B., Ammon, C., Campuzano, J.: Estimated fresh produce shrink and food loss in U.S. supermarkets. Agriculture 5(3), 626–648 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kulikovskaja, V., Aschemann-Witzel, J.: Food waste avoidance actions in food retailing: the case of Denmark. J. Int. Food Agribus. Mark. 29(4), 328–345 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Tromp, S.-O., Haijema, R., Rijgersberg, H., van der Vorst, J.G.A.J.: A systematic approach to preventing chilled-food waste at the retail outlet. Int. J. Prod. Econ. 182, 508–518 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Shukla, M., Jharkharia, S.: Agri-fresh produce supply chain management: a state-of-the-art literature review. Int. J. Oper. Prod. Manag. 33(2), 114–158 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Göbel, C., Langen, N., Blumenthal, A., Teitscheid, P., Ritter, G.: Cutting food waste through cooperation along the food supply chain. Sustainability 7, 1429–1445 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Handayati, Y., Simatupang, T.M., Perdana, T.: Agri-food supply chain coordination: the state-of-the-art and recent developments. Logist. Res. 8(5), 1–15 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is financed by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the project SFRH/BD/132563/2017.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEMMPRE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Luís Reis Santos Pinhal de Marrocos, 3030-788, Coimbra, Portugal

    Vanessa S. M. Magalhães, Luís Miguel D. F. Ferreira & Cristóvão Silva

Authors
  1. Vanessa S. M. Magalhães
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Luís Miguel D. F. Ferreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cristóvão Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vanessa S. M. Magalhães .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Military Science and Technology, Portuguese Military Academy, Amadora, Portugal

    João Reis

  2. Department of Exact Sciences and Engineering, Portuguese Military Academy, Amadora, Portugal

    Sandra Pinelas

  3. School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

    Nuno Melão

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Magalhães, V.S.M., Ferreira, L.M.D.F., Silva, C. (2019). Causes of Food Loss and Waste: An Analysis Along the Food Supply Chain. In: Reis, J., Pinelas, S., Melão, N. (eds) Industrial Engineering and Operations Management I. IJCIEOM 2018. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 280. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14969-7_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation