Abstract:

Food waste is a widespread issue posing a challenge to global food security and environmental governance. Causes of food waste on the level of wholesalers and retailers, food services, and households involve a wide range of issues including awareness, knowledge, attitudes, preferences, portion size, planning, socio-economic factors, labelling, packaging, handling, storage, stock management, logistics and expectations of a retail chain concerning product quality and shelf life. Among the key reasons for wasting food in households, first of all, non-consumption of the product in a timely manner is given, which results in its deterioration or expiration. In the article, the authors present the results of a study on consumer behavior regarding food waste in households in Poland (N=1070). The focus was on the analysis of the frequency of throwing out  purchased food and on identifying the causes of throwing out food by consumers in Poland in relation to consumer segmentation variables (such as age, material status, education and the number of people in the household). The results of the study made it possible to carry out typologies of households that waste food in Poland. The frequency scale and reasons for throwing food out by Polish consumers clearly indicate that they have very low awareness of the problem of food waste. Food waste in Poland is a big ethical, economic and social problem.

This study was supported by the National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki), Poland [grant number 2017/27/B/HS4/00805].