Opening the Black Box of Food Waste Reduction

Surplus food management plays a key role in sustainable development, because effective management of food resources and products can reduce food waste and food poverty. This paper addresses the multifaceted concept of food supply chain sustainability by presenting a model of surplus food generation and management (called ASRW, Availability-Surplus-Recoverability-Waste), which encompasses the integrated food supply chain (i.e. business, environmental and social players). The model was developed using a bottom-up approach, by conducting 30 exploratory case studies and iterating theory development and data analysis. Three confirmatory case studies, from different food supply chain stages, are also presented to show the suitability of the model in the identification of food waste reduction strategies