About this Research Topic
Food waste is linked to landfill disposal, resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, social poverty, and inequality. Firms have a vital role to play in solving the food waste challenge. Boosting innovative and sustainable management practices to prevent and minimize wastage is essential to meet the United Nations' call to halve food loss and waste by 2030 (SDG target 12.3). Accordingly, there is a large body of research on food loss and waste reduction at the upstream end on the global food chain—agricultural practices followed by producers, and food processing, manufacturing, and distribution to retailers.
Until recently, there have been few studies on food waste practices downstream in the supply chain, including market centers and retailers, tourism and hospitality, and food services such as restaurants, mobile food services, event catering, and other food and beverage (F&B) activities. Firms in downstream activities serve households and individual consumers. Hence, these firms stand in a unique position to address the global food issue. Despite the significance of this issue to firms at the end of the global food chain, the managerial perspective on food waste practices is rarely studied in this context.
This Research Topic aims to addresses the growing interest in sustainable food systems, including management practices to reduce wastage and the ecological footprint of the firms at the end of the food chain (including retail, accommodation and the F&B sector), soliciting the submission of high-quality original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, and perspective articles focused on this topic.
Potential subtopics of the collection may include, but are not limited to:
- Food waste systems (food processing; retail chains; travel; tourism; hospitality; food service—restaurants and catering; domestic consumption)
- Food waste hierarchy (food loss and waste; avoidable, potentially avoidable, unavoidable food waste; food waste prevention; minimization)
- Food waste streams from commercial food processing centers and facilities. Technology related to increased food processing sustainability
- Technology (smart kitchens; digital platforms; software programs; packaging; labeling)
- Sustainable cross-sector collaboration (inter-firm collaboration; multi-stakeholder involvement among suppliers, partners, contractors; joint ventures and alliances; global platforms; university-industry collaboration)
- Leadership and business strategy (Sustainable business model innovation; sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI); corporate endorsement of the Sustainable Development Goals)
- Management systems (sustainable resource management (SRM); circular economy; regenerative models; finance and ESG)
- Management processes (LCA; purchasing; inventory; storage and handling systems; forecasting; ISO 14001)
- Food safety of waste utilization and handling in commercial food processing
- Utilization of by-products from commercial food processing in the manufacturing value-added food products
- Social reasons for food waste (cultural values; institutional and political regulation; consumption, lifestyle, culture and society, quality of life, quality of the environment)
- Consumers and domestic consumption (communicating; partnering; engaging; educating consumers to cut household food waste)
- Culinary approaches by using food waste on product development
- Study of incorporation of plant species in sustainable agri-food systems
Until recently, there have been few studies on food waste practices downstream in the supply chain, including market centers and retailers, tourism and hospitality, and food services such as restaurants, mobile food services, event catering, and other food and beverage (F&B) activities. Firms in downstream activities serve households and individual consumers. Hence, these firms stand in a unique position to address the global food issue. Despite the significance of this issue to firms at the end of the global food chain, the managerial perspective on food waste practices is rarely studied in this context.
This Research Topic aims to addresses the growing interest in sustainable food systems, including management practices to reduce wastage and the ecological footprint of the firms at the end of the food chain (including retail, accommodation and the F&B sector), soliciting the submission of high-quality original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, and perspective articles focused on this topic.
Potential subtopics of the collection may include, but are not limited to:
- Food waste systems (food processing; retail chains; travel; tourism; hospitality; food service—restaurants and catering; domestic consumption)
- Food waste hierarchy (food loss and waste; avoidable, potentially avoidable, unavoidable food waste; food waste prevention; minimization)
- Food waste streams from commercial food processing centers and facilities. Technology related to increased food processing sustainability
- Technology (smart kitchens; digital platforms; software programs; packaging; labeling)
- Sustainable cross-sector collaboration (inter-firm collaboration; multi-stakeholder involvement among suppliers, partners, contractors; joint ventures and alliances; global platforms; university-industry collaboration)
- Leadership and business strategy (Sustainable business model innovation; sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI); corporate endorsement of the Sustainable Development Goals)
- Management systems (sustainable resource management (SRM); circular economy; regenerative models; finance and ESG)
- Management processes (LCA; purchasing; inventory; storage and handling systems; forecasting; ISO 14001)
- Food safety of waste utilization and handling in commercial food processing
- Utilization of by-products from commercial food processing in the manufacturing value-added food products
- Social reasons for food waste (cultural values; institutional and political regulation; consumption, lifestyle, culture and society, quality of life, quality of the environment)
- Consumers and domestic consumption (communicating; partnering; engaging; educating consumers to cut household food waste)
- Culinary approaches by using food waste on product development
- Study of incorporation of plant species in sustainable agri-food systems
Keywords: Food waste, Food loss, Management, Innovation, Sustainability, Environmental sustainability, Environmental impact, industry, food value chain, Sustainable Development Goals
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
