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Every year in Austria up to 790.790 tons (Germany: 11,9 million tons) of avoidable food waste ends up in the garbage. According to the Court of Auditors, households contribute the most to this waste with 206.990 tons.
However, business models that fight against this waste still receive little attention, states Adrian Kirste, partner at the global management consultancy Kearney and an expert on retail and consumer goods. This means that Austria is far from achieving the UN goal for sustainable development, i.e. a reduction in foodwaste halfway to reach.
In the new study "Reducing Food Waste: New Business Models and their Limitations". Kearney examined the activities of the public and private sector against food waste and surveyed 1.000 consumers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was analyzed how 70 percent of the waste can be avoided.
Solutions to avoid wasting food: Only every 10th person knows about services
The study shows that the vast majority of food waste comes from private households (52 percent), followed by food processing (18 percent), out-of-home catering (14 percent), primary production (12 percent) and retail at four percent .
One in three of those surveyed are familiar with meal planning services, sharing platforms and zero-waste stores. But only every third of them actually uses them. In contrast, little is known about pantry tracking services that are supposed to enable intelligent shopping (10 percent of those surveyed). However, these services are widely used by those who know them.
When it comes to the question of effectiveness, the models come off differently: sharing platforms and food2food transformation companies are considered to be particularly effective. In contrast, the effectiveness of “ugly food” shops and zero waste stores is rated as mediocre.
The consumers surveyed see pantry tracking services and meal planning services as the least effective in combating food waste. In addition to business models aimed at end customers, the authors of Kearney also see potential in business models in the B2B sector, such as bioenergy and animal feed companies, since the relatively high prices of the end products are offset by low raw material costs for production.
Respondents agreed not to accept additional costs for offers that reduce food waste. The authors of the study therefore point to the indispensable role of the state and name instruments such as financial incentives, new quality standards, awareness-raising or targeted bans.
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