Food losses at the producer-retailer interface - causes and options for action

Background and Objective

A quarter of the water used in agriculture worldwide, a land area as large as China and 4.4 gigatons of CO₂ equivalents: This is how the FAO and the Food Loss and Waste Protocol quantify the annual resource footprint that results solely from the production of all disposed and lost food.

In this doctoral project, we investigate the causes of food losses from agricultural production up to retail and options for reducing these, using the example of fruit and vegetables. Although the majority of all food loss and waste in Germany can be traced back to private households, a considerable proportion of 30 percent is attributable to the value chain from primary production up to retail. The uncertain amount of pre-harvest losses is not even quantified.

Research to date suggests that the interactions between the stages and actors of the value chain influence the occurrence of food losses. These inter-stage causes and mechanisms are examined in more detail in this research project.

Target Group

Scientists, political decision-makers, primary producers, retailing companies

Approach

We examine three sub-aspects that build on one another:

1. Market power imbalances: Using interviews with experts, we examine how power imbalances are reflected in the supply chain and promote the occurrence of food losses.
2. Quality standards: Within a subproject, using a selection of relevant fruit and vegetable crops, we quantify the proportion of food losses that can be attributed to the product requirements of retailing companies. Building on this, we give recommendations on how the requirements should be adapted in order to reduce the resulting losses.
3. Options for action: From the interview and questionnaire data, we derive which political instruments can work towards reducing food losses.

Data and Methods

Interviews with experts and questionnaire studies form the basis of the research project. In qualitative interviews with producers, producer organizations and the food retail sector, we gain a deep insight into the interface and the causes of food losses between production and retail. Subsequent quantitative questionnaires in the fruit and vegetable supply chains are intended to provide information about the quantities lost and their causes. We work closely with a food retail company and with the dialogue forums.

Our Research Questions

1. How are interactions in the food value chain influenced by power imbalances, and how does this lead to food losses in the upstream value chain of fruit and vegetables?
2. How high are the food losses caused by the quality requirements of food retailing companies for fruit and vegetables, and what adjustments are necessary for a reduction?
3. Which politicy instruments could initiate a reduction in food losses? Which political instruments could support private-sector options for action to reduce food losses?

Results

The evaluation of the interviews with the experts showed that power imbalances between production and retail emerge in the form of

• low commitment in terms of ordered quantities
• very short-term orders
• lack of acceptance guarantees
• company-specific product requirements regarding appearance, packaging and pesticide residue limits
• determination of orders and advertising on the customer side

Hence, the shifting of economic risks into the upstream value chain is a trigger for food losses in production.

One specific driver of food loss was investigated in more detail through the online survey: The quality requirements that retailers place on fruit and vegetables. We were able to show that 15 % of the total quantity does not meet the company's requirements. As a result, 6 % is no longer used for human consumption, while the rest finds alternative marketing channels.

publications in the frame of the thesis:

Market power and food loss at the producer-retailer interface of fruit and vegetable supply chains in Germany, DOI: 10.1007/s11625-021-01083-x

Product specifications and business practices as food loss drivers – A case study of a retailer's upstream fruit and vegetable supply chains, DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137940

Policy instruments to reduce food loss prior to retail – Perspectives of fruit and vegetable supply chain actors in Europe, DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2023.09.019

Links and Downloads

partner project: Quality requirements and food loss in fruit and vegetables

http://www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals/indicators/1231/en/

https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/market-measures/agri-food-supply-chain/unfair-trading-practices_en

https://www.lebensmittelwertschaetzen.de/strategie/nationales-dialogforum/?L=0