Abstract
Initiatives of the European Union in the context of food waste running governmental and nonprofit campaigns strive to reach waste reduction goals. The study investigated entrepreneurial business models in the arena of food waste in Germany with a multiple case study research approach. Business entrepreneurs seek to reduce waste through its monetarization. After the initial identification of close to all current entrepreneurial businesses, ten entrepreneurs in retail, processing, and food service were interviewed to determine barriers and challenges to the models’ success and analyze their motivation to start these businesses. The most important barriers constituted logistical problems regarding supply as well as marketing; and the need for close collaboration with suppliers constituted another important challenge. Their motivations combine sustainability-oriented goals with a profit goal. To scale up, an increase in collaboration and data exchange is needed across the supply chain.
Highlights
Worldwide, about a third of all food produced, which amounts to 1.3 billion tons per year, does not go into consumption by people [1]
The present study addresses the reduction of food waste through business models building on food rescue
The present study employed a multiple case study approach, because it was expected that different business models can use surplus food as a resource
Summary
About a third of all food produced, which amounts to 1.3 billion tons per year, does not go into consumption by people [1]. For the EU, estimates amount to 50% loss of edible food, ranging from 89 [2] to 143 million tons per year [3]. The total food loss across the supply chain in Germany amounts to 18.7 million tons per year [3], at least half of which is avoidable. Aside from the economic loss caused by food waste, its environmental and social impacts cause avoidable damage and societal discussion. Water, and energy use involved in producing food that will not be consumed reduces biodiversity and contributes to loss of species [1]. The societal discussion centers around the ethical aspects of food waste: Food goes to waste while at the same time people suffer from food poverty, food insecurity, and hunger [5,6,7,8]
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