Food waste prevention in quick service restaurants: A comparative case study on the quantity, source, costs and cause

This research aims to fill the knowledge gap with regards to food waste prevention with a specific focus on quick service restaurants (QSRs) – also known as fast food restaurants. Restaurants are in a prime position to reduce food waste produced in the consumptive stages of the food supply chain, and more focus should be placed on how restaurants can help achieve food waste reduction targets. The research takes a comparative case study approach to better understand and identify the quantity, source and cause of food waste in QSRs; the factors that contribute towards QSRs producing more food waste than others; food waste prevention measures; and the financial incentives for food waste prevention. The research finds that the predominant sources and causes of food waste in the case study QSRs relate to food spoilage in the serving line and customer plate waste due to excessive portion sizes and the eating culture of customers. The research also finds that there can be a large variation between the causes and sources of food waste in QSRs within the same chain, and this can depend on the eating culture of customers and how individual QSRs deal with serving food waste and respond and adapt to food health and safety regulations. The research finds that, when taking into account the full costs of food waste, QSRs producing low amounts of food waste can pay around 3 per cent of their turnover on food waste, while QSRs producing high amounts can pay up to 15 per cent. Reducing food waste also has the added effect of potentially saving up to 30 per cent energy and water consumption associated with preparing, processing and cooking food that’s wasted. In order for restaurants to reduce food waste, the study highlights that there is a general need for QSRs and restaurants to focus more on monitoring, measuring and identifying the source of avoidable food waste; conduct regular full-costing calculations to understand and provide incentives for food waste minimization; and identify ways to legally reuse serving food waste in other menu items as opposed to simply throwing it away.