Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775

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Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

A comparative study of food waste management in full service

restaurants of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands
Viachaslau Filimonau a, *, Ekaterina Todorova a, Andrew Mzembe b, Lieke Sauer b,
Aaron Yankholmes c
a
Faculty of Management, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK
b
Academy of Hotel and Facility Management, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Breda, Netherlands
c
University of South Wales, South Wales Business School, Usk Way, Newport NP20 2BP, United Kingdom

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The EU-28’s food service sector generates excessive amounts of food waste. This notwithstanding, no
Received 2 July 2019 comparative, cross-national research has ever been undertaken to understand how food waste is
Received in revised form managed in restaurants across the EU-28. This study contributes to knowledge by presenting a first
2 October 2019
attempt to conduct a comparative analysis of restaurant food waste management practices in the UK and
Accepted 25 February 2020
Available online 28 February 2020
the Netherlands. It finds that although restaurateurs in both countries use demand forecasting as a prime
approach to prevent food waste, forecasting does not always work. When this happens, food waste
Handling Editor: Mingzhou Jin management programmes such as repurposing excess foodstuffs, redistribution of surplus food and
consumer choice architecture are mostly considered commercially unviable. To improve the effectiveness
Keywords: of food waste management in the food service sectors of the UK and the Netherlands it is necessary to
Environmental impact ensure that food waste mitigation becomes a corporate target for restaurateurs and the progress towards
Food waste its achievement is regularly monitored by top management. This corporate commitment should be
Full service restaurant facilitated by national policy-makers, but also by EU regulators, by raising consumer awareness of food
Mitigation
waste, incentivising surplus food redistribution and enabling food waste recycling.
Sustainable food practice
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction relevant in light of the growing need for sustainable food practices
outside home which will offer opportunities to reduce food
The problem of food waste is receiving growing recognition due wastage within the national sectors of food service provision in the
to its significant negative socio-economic and environmental im- EU-28 (FUSIONS, 2016).
pacts (Parfitt et al. 2010). Concurrently, the need to feed the Due to the well-established markets of out-of-home food con-
increasing global population has become a major societal challenge sumption, the sectors of food service provision in the ‘older’ EU
as the associated rise in food demand depletes natural resources, member states waste disproportionally large amounts of food
pollutes the environment and exacerbates poverty (Godfray et al. (Monier et al. 2010). For example, a combined contribution of the
2010). This challenge can be at least partially addressed by six ‘older’ EU members (UK1, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the
reducing wastage generated throughout the global food supply Netherlands) to food service/catering waste is estimated as circa 9.3
chain (Alexander et al. 2017). million tonnes, or 76% of the EU-28’s sectoral total (Kretschmer
The sector of food service provision e our focal sector e is the et al. 2013). The need to mitigate this excessive wastage has been
third largest food waste generator in the EU-28, right after house- politically recognised, with the European Commission assigning
holds and agriculture/food processing industries (Katsarova, 2016). sector- and country-specific reduction targets in order to transit the
About 75% of this wastage is categorised as avoidable, thus show- EU-28 member states towards the Circular Economy and to fulfil
casing food service/catering as a prime target for food waste the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Katsarova,
reduction (Oliveira et al. 2016). This target becomes particularly 2016).

* Corresponding author
1
E-mail address: vfi[email protected] (V. Filimonau). The study was undertaken before the UK’s departure from the EU.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120775
0959-6526/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775

Meanwhile, restaurateurs are gradually recognising the busi- (Mintel, 2019).

ness, as well as the moral, case of mitigating food waste (Martin- The steady growth of the UK market of out-of-home food con-
Rios et al. 2018). It is important to sustain this trend by providing sumption has triggered the challenge of food waste within the
empirical research demonstrating the benefits of food waste miti- national sector of food service provision. WRAP (2015) estimates
gation strategies to industry professionals (Filimonau and de that the sector generates circa 0.9 million tonnes of food waste per
Coteau, 2019). Little systematic empirical work has, however, year, with 70% of wastage occurring in restaurants, 17% - in hotels
been undertaken to date on food waste management in the na- and 13% - in leisure-related business ventures (WRAP, 2013c). The
tional sectors of food service provision in the EU-28 (Filimonau figures provided by Kretschmer et al. (2013) pinpoint an even larger
et al. 2019b). This hinders understanding of the most commer- magnitude of food wastage in the UK sector of food service provi-
cially viable approaches to food waste management with a subse- sion, i.e. 3 million tonnes, but offer no cross-sectoral disaggregation
quent lack of analysis of how these could be more broadly adopted of the main contributors. According to WRAP (2013d), one com-
across the sector, but also within the different markets of out-of- plete meal out of six is wasted in the UK food service sector which
home food consumption (Pirani and Arafat, 2016). equates to about 1.3 billion meals thrown away annually. As a
Based on above, the paper aims to answer the following result, SRA (2010) posits that an average UK restaurant wastes 21
research question(s): what approaches to food waste management tonnes of food every year. This wastage costs UK restaurateurs at
are adopted by restaurateurs in the UK and the Netherlands, how least £0.7 billion per year, or almost £1 per meal, on average (WRAP,
are these approaches similar/different and what factors determine 2013b). It is estimated that mitigating food waste could save UK
the (in)effectiveness of commercial adoption of these approaches in food service providers up to £6000 a year which is a considerable
the two food consumption markets in question? The contribution figure for most small-to-medium-sized enterprises that prevail
of this paper is thus threefold. First, it extends our knowledge about within the sector (SRA, 2010).
sustainable food practices by demonstrating that the challenge of Despite the substantial magnitude of the challenge of food
food waste management in restaurants is complex and multifac- waste in the UK sector of food service provision, the related agenda
eted, and that a (more) holistic outlook is necessary to enable a of academic research is under-developed, especially in terms of
better understanding of its drivers. Previous, non-academic providing empirical evidence on the major drivers of wastage as
research has shown that restaurants waste substantial quantities of well as the determinants of effective mitigation. Although these
food in their kitchen (SRA, 2010; Winnow, 2018; WRAP, 2013c) issues have been considered in the context of hospital contract
while this study revealed a significant proportion of food waste catering (see Williams and Walton, 2011 for a review), the sub-
arising from customer plates, thus highlighting consumer behav- sector of restaurants has largely been excluded from analysis. The
iour as a prime mitigation target. Second, our study departs from empirical work by Youngs et al. (1983) is dated while the study by
previous research (Betz et al. 2015; Papargyropoulou et al. 2016; Filimonau et al. (2019b) focused on coffee shops that sit on the
Principato et al. 2018) in that it enhances knowledge of the main verge of food service and retail. Likewise, the work by Radwan et al.
factors that can enable or, in the opposite, deter effective mitigation (2012) concentrated on hotels, thus highlighting food waste in UK
of food waste in restaurants. Lastly, the study represents the first restaurants as an academically under-examined domain.
known attempt to undertake a comparative analysis of the chal-
lenge of food waste in two ‘mature’ markets of out-of-home food 2.1.2. The Netherlands
consumption in the EU-28, i.e. the United Kingdom and the Similarly, the Dutch out-of-home food consumption market has
Netherlands. The choice of these two EU countries is driven by such witnessed substantial growth in recent years except for a slight dip
factors as data availability and convenience but, most importantly, in 2009 (Kouwenhoven et al. 2012). This growth is attributed to the
by the fact that their national sectors of food service provision ac- prevalence of snacking among Millennials which is gradually
count for excessive quantities of food waste. Kretschmer et al. eroding the traditional three meal-pattern a day. Residents here
(2013) estimate the UK to be the EU’s largest producer of restau- tend to eat at workplace, while traveling and in social outings with
rant food waste and the Netherlands to be in the EU’s top-6. By friends. According to Geurts et al. (2017), out-of-home consump-
comparing the UK and the Netherlands, besides revealing the main tion accounted for 31.7% of the total food expenditure in the
drivers of food waste generation, establishing approaches to miti- Netherlands. On its part, the FoodService Instituut Nederland
gation and uncovering the determinants of their successful (2017) reports out-of-home food consumption sales of US$11.8
implementation by restaurateurs, the study identifies best prac- billion or almost 90% of total food service sales in 2016.
tices in the management of restaurant food waste and elaborates There are over 20,000 licensed restaurant operators in the
upon the feasibility of their broader adoption across the two con- Netherlands (Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, 2019). In terms of
sumption markets in question. annual sales, these generated US$4582 million in 2011 compared to
US$5335 million in 2016. The increased sales are largely driven by
2. Background of studied markets positive outlook of the Dutch economy, the demographic changes
and changes in lifestyles, and it is expected that this sub-sector will
2.1. Restaurant food waste in the UK and the Netherlands grow by 4% by 2021 (FoodService Instituut Nederland, 2017).
With respect to food waste, the exact magnitude of its occur-
2.1.1. The UK rence in the Dutch sector of food service remains unclear. While
The market of out-of-home food consumption in the UK is well- Kouwenhoven et al. (2012) estimate that Dutch restaurants discard
established, yet rapidly developing (Mintel, 2019). After a short about 51,000 tonnes of food with a value of over V235 million,
decline in 2009 prompted by global financial recession, it has Kretschmer et al. (2013) suggest a significantly higher figure of
demonstrated a steady growth ever since, both in terms of its 446,000 tonnes of food waste generated by food service operators
overall financial significance and the number of business ventures in the Netherlands annually. Three main reasons have been iden-
in operation. In 2017, there were over 86,000 food service providers tified for the high food waste here. Among the reasons, two are
in the UK (Statista, 2019), generating a market value of circa £74 particularly relevant to this study: (1) food service businesses do
billion in 2018 (Mintel, 2019). It is anticipated that the market value not know how to prevent or reduce food waste; and (2) they lack
of the sector will grow to £83 billion by 2023, or by 12%, driven by awareness of the growing detrimental societal impact of restaurant
increased income and generational changes in consumer demand food waste (Kouwenhoven et al. 2012).
 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775 3

3. Literature review cooking food.

The relative share of food wastage across the different opera-
3.1. Food waste in food service provision tional areas of a restaurant business can vary significantly
depending, inter alia, on the category of food service establishment,
Due to the lack of empirical studies, the precise magnitude of but also on the type of occasions at which the food is consumed
food waste within the sector of food service provision is difficult to (SRA, 2010). For example, fine dining restaurants may produce
establish (Filimonau and de Coteau, 2019). The paucity of research excessive wastage in cooking as the food served here has to be of
is largely attributed to the challenges of primary data collection and the highest quality and aesthetic standards given a high price tag
systematisation (Pirani and Arafat, 2016). Defining food waste can attached (Charlebois et al. 2015). In contrast, fast food restaurants
be problematic, and there is often no clear differentiation, espe- report substantial wastage arising from customer plates. This is due
cially from the managerial viewpoint, between food ‘waste’ and to highly standardised food preparation processes and serving
food ‘loss’ (Okazaki et al. 2008). It may, therefore, be more appro- procedures adopted herewith, but also because of irresponsible
priate to use the term ‘wasted food’ as it is more explicit in high- consumer behaviour which is often prompted by relative afford-
lighting deliberate human action in its generation (Neff et al. 2015). ability of fast food (Katajajuuri et al. 2014). Likewise, food con-
Second, food service managers do not always possess the skills to sumption at events and functions generates excessive wastage due
identify, and then accurately quantify, the main food waste flows to the need for people to socialise (Pirani and Arafat, 2016). This is
within their businesses and to characterise their occurrence in contrast to so-called ‘functional’ occasions of out-of-home food
(Sakaguchi et al. 2018). In many cases, the assessments of food consumption, such as eating out in work canteens, where food
waste in restaurants are restricted to rough managerial estimates, waste is less likely to occur due to a more utilitarian function of this
or even guesstimates, of the volumes of wasted food, such as, for meal type, i.e. to satisfy hunger (WRAP, 2013d).
example, the X number of the X volume garbage bins produced in a While the wastage attributed to spoilage in food service provi-
restaurant with a X period of time, thus affecting data quality sion seems relatively low, i.e. 5-21%, depending on a source of es-
(Filimonau et al. 2019b). Third, besides the food waste data being of timates (SRA, 2010; WRAP, 2013b), it arguably represents the most
insufficient quantity and quality, managers of food service enter- challenging category of food waste to address from the managerial
prises are often reluctant to share these data (Beretta et al. 2013). perspective (Filimonau and de Coteau, 2019). Indeed, there is a
This is partially due to perceived commercial sensitivity of the topic direct relationship between food spoilage on the one hand and food
of food waste, with the potential it holds to endanger business storage and stock management on the other (Winnow, 2018). For
image and corporate reputation if the data on food wastage are example, such operational procedures as ordering the ‘right’
released to the public, with consequent managerial unwillingness amount of foodstuffs through accurate forecasting of consumer
to discuss it with researchers (Hermsdorf et al. 2017). Lastly, the demand as well as regular stock rotation can significantly reduce
aggregation of primary data on food waste is challenging as the food waste through spoilage (WRAP, 2013a). While these opera-
sector of food service provision is highly diverse, meaning that the tional procedures may seem straightforward, they are in fact the
data on the quantity and the character of wasted food from one most difficult tasks for restaurant managers to fulfil, which is due to
restaurant may not represent the rest of the sector (Garrone et al. high seasonality and unpredictable nature of customer demand for
2014). Further, there are significant variations across the food in the out-of-home settings (Papargyropoulou et al. 2016).
geographical markets of out-of-home food consumption, suggest-
ing that the data on food wastage from the restaurants in one 3.3. Food waste mitigation measures
country cannot be used to characterise the restaurants of the same
category in another country (Dutta et al. 2008). These challenges For effective mitigation, extant literature suggests that restau-
call for more empirical research on food waste as produced by the rant managers should first identify the operational areas within
different types of restaurants in order to obtain (more) reliable, their business ventures where most food is wasted, as well as the
sector-representative figures (Papargyropoulou et al. 2016). This main drivers, and then to routinely intervene into these areas
further necessitates comparative studies on restaurant food waste, aiming to reduce occurrence of this wastage (Filimonau and de
that could highlight important cross-national differences and Coteau, 2019). Underpinned by the classical (food) waste manage-
similarities between consumption markets (Marthinsen et al. ment hierarchy, the interventions that restaurateurs may choose to
2012). Such a (more) systematic, comparative investigation will adopt should prioritise prevention of food waste occurrence over
enable a better understanding of the market-specific drivers of food passive disposal of wasted food (Papargyropoulou et al. 2016).
waste occurrence and aid in establishing the market-specific de- Indeed, the foremost potential to minimise food wastage rests in
terminants of its effective mitigation (Filimonau and de Coteau, accurate demand forecasting as it prevents over-supply of food-
2019). stuffs and over-production of meals with a subsequently reduced
probability of spoilage (Filimonau et al. 2019b). While arguably
3.2. Drivers of food wastage being most effective, accurate demand forecasting is concurrently
the most challenging mitigation opportunity to adopt in the
In the absence of accurate figures on restaurant food waste context of out-of-home food consumption (Hu et al. 2004). In
derived by academics, a number of industry reports have been addition to high variations in consumer demand, as highlighted
produced to describe its occurrence. WRAP (2013b) suggests that above, the success of such an intervention may depend on corpo-
food wastage in restaurants emerges from the three major sources, rate policies, but also on the relationship a restaurant establishes
i.e. when preparing food (45%), from customer plates (34%), and with suppliers (Kasim and Ismail, 2012). With respect to corporate
due to in-transit and on-site spoilage (21%). SRA (2010) estimates policies, managers who are committed to reduce food waste
that restaurants generate 65% of food waste in kitchens while involving storage and preparation are more likely to allocate a
customer plates and spoilage account for 30% and 5% of wastage, significant amount of resources for investments in sophisticated
respectively. As effectively summarised by Winnow (2018), over forecasting models (Filimonau and de Coteau, 2019). Equally,
70% of food is wasted in food service provision before it even rea- establishing a good relationship with suppliers can be crucial in
ches customer plates, which is due to over-supply of foodstuffs, restaurants’ drive towards food waste minimisation. Such a rela-
over-production of meals and human errors when handling and tionship can allow restaurant managers to order the ‘right’
4 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775

quantities of food only when and if necessary (Derqui et al. 2016). waste mitigation (Papargyropoulou et al. 2016), if organised prop-
Having good relationships with suppliers is of particular impor- erly, it can still minimise the complete loss of (natural and labour)
tance for independent, small-to-medium-sized, enterprises that resources invested in food production. For example, wasted food
constitute the largest portion of the national sectors of food service can be recycled for material recovery via composting or anaerobic
provision in the EU-28 (Eurostat, 2019). This is due to their reduced digestion (Kuczman et al. 2018). While food recycling is feasible in
bargaining power in comparison with large and chain-affiliated the sector of food service provision, its practical implementation is
food service establishments (Filimonau et al. 2019b). often constrained by the issues of space and aesthetics (Mbuligwe
Inaccurate demand forecasting in restaurants leads to over- and Kassenga, 2004). For example, food recycling bins can be bulky
stocking of foodstuffs and/or over-production of meals to store, which represents a major issue in the restaurants located
(Papargyropoulou et al. 2016). The excess of foodstuffs should be in town centres where space is restricted; in addition, they can
repurposed while the surplus meals need to be redistributed to produce unpleasant odour.
avoid wastage (Betz et al. 2015). There are a number of opportu- The final, least desirable, approach to food waste management is
nities for restaurateurs to achieve this. First, any surplus food can be passive disposal of wasted food (Pirani and Arafat, 2016). Despite
given to staff in the form of staff meals and/or as a reward apparent simplicity, even this approach can be challenging to
(Filimonau et al. 2019b). Second, it can be reduced in price to implement. This is because collections of commercial food waste
facilitate quick sales while the redistribution of such discounted can be poorly organised (Thi et al. 2015) while the infrastructural
meals can be facilitated by smartphone technology (Filimonau and and budgetary issues may prevent local authorities and private
de Coteau, 2019). Lastly, surplus food can be redistributed companies from collecting and disposing of food waste effectively
(donated) to charities that subsequently provide it to the people in (Sharholy et al. 2008).
need (Mourad, 2016). In conclusion, it is important to note that existing studies on
While these approaches have all been reported in the literature food waste management in the context of the sector of food service
as practically viable, their ultimate success will depend on different provision are gradually increasing in number (Filimonau and de
organisational (internal) and institutional (external) factors that Coteau, 2019) which signifies growing political, public and aca-
can have substantial cross-market variations (Filimonau and de demic concern of the alarming scale of this global societal chal-
Coteau, 2019). For example, the effectiveness of food donations is lenge. In terms of research methodologies, existing studies
determined by the legal landscape of the country where a restau- employed the quantitative research paradigm (surveys and mass
rant operates (institutional factor), but also by managerial values flow analysis) to quantify and characterise food waste in restau-
and corporate vision adopted (organisational factor) (Filimonau rants (Betz et al. 2015; Christ and Burritt, 2017; Okazaki et al. 2008);
et al. 2019b). While some EU-28 countries have already amended concurrently, the qualitative methods of primary data collection
their legislation to streamline the redistribution of unsold food in (i.e. managerial and staff interviews) were utilised to examine
grocery retail and food service, some countries are yet to imple- managerial attitudes to food waste mitigation in restaurants and
ment such amendments (Thyberg and Tonjes, 2016). Likewise, with explore the effectiveness of specific mitigation approaches in use
respect to organisational factors, it is suggested that managerial (Derqui et al. 2016; Goh and Jie, 2019; Filimonau et al., 2019a). As
values and corporate policies can have a major influence on how this study focuses on managerial approaches to food waste miti-
the surplus food can be utilised (Alexander and Smaje, 2008). While gation in restaurants in the UK and the Netherlands, aiming to
some restaurants allow their managers to decide how/if to donate compare their effectiveness and identify good practices, it will thus
surplus food, some operate stringent corporate policies on, for take advantage of the qualitative research paradigm. The study’s
example, health and safety, that prevent managers from engaging method is explained next.
in food donations (Heikkila € et al. 2016). In addition, managers with
strong moral norms and values can, at their discretion, allow their 4. Method
restaurants to donate surplus food to charities and homeless people
(Irani et al. 2018). The study adopted a qualitative and descriptive case study
To avoid food waste occurrence on customer plates, the princi- approach (Yin, 1989). This was considered the most appropriate
ples of consumer choice architecture can be adopted by restaura- approach given the exploratory and sensitive nature of the topic this
teurs (Kallbekken and Sælen, 2013). These can help to educate project dealt with, i.e. restaurant food waste (Matthews and Ross,
restaurant guests about the negative societal repercussions of food 2014). The study is based on the experiences of restaurant man-
waste (Jagau and Vyrastekova, 2017). Restaurateurs can further agers in the UK and the Netherlands. It sheds light on the food waste
appeal to customer moral norms in an attempt to trigger public management only in these two countries because of resource con-
regret of wasted food (Sto € ckli et al. 2018a). Next, managers can pro- straints for cross-national comparison of all 28 countries in the EU.
actively reduce plate leftovers by offering customers the ‘doggy Managerial interviews represent a suitable tool for data collec-
bags’ (Sirieix et al. 2017). Lastly, financial (dis)incentives can be tion as previous research has established that restaurant managers
applied by restaurateurs to ‘nudge’ more responsible behaviour impose substantial influence on the amounts of wasted food in
(Dolnicar et al. 2019): for example, consumers can be charged for their establishments (Filimonau et al. 2019b) given the crucial role
any plate leftovers or discounts can be provided to those guests played in the design of kitchen processes and operational proced-
who choose to order smaller portions (The Local, 2016). Despite the ures (Heikkila € et al. 2016). Prior to interviews, a schedule was
significant potential held by the principles of consumer choice ar- developed (Appendix 1). It focused on the participants’ knowledge
chitecture to reduce wastage in the sector of food service provision, of and attitudes towards restaurant food waste and management
the related research agenda remains limited (Freedman and practices adopted in-house to mitigate its occurrence. To ensure
Brochado, 2010). The prime reason for this is the reluctance of face and content validity, the schedule was based on previous
restaurateurs to experiment with nudging interventions in fear of research and tested on a handful of willing restaurant managers.
possible ‘backfire’ effect from customers (Sto €ckli et al. 2018b). The interviews in the UK were conducted in English while those in
If surplus food and/or food leftovers cannot be repurposed and/ the Netherlands were conducted in both English and Dutch. Mod-
or redistributed, then they have to be disposed of. Although the ifications to achieve content, textual and semantic equivalence
classical (food) waste management hierarchy pinpoints disposal as were discussed among the bilingual peers (Chapman and Carter,
the most reactive and, therefore, least preferred approach to food 1979).
 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775 5

Data were generated through a series of in-depth semi-struc- restaurants in the Dutch sample and an almost equal distribution of
tured interviews with managers of full service restaurants. For the the independent and chain-affiliated restaurants in the UK sample
purpose of this study, full service restaurants are defined as eating (Table 1). It was originally planned that this study would achieve
places where customers are seated and that operate with a full samples of participants with a (more or less) equal representation
menu selection option. It excludes such commercial outlets as fast of the independents and chain-affiliates. This is to ensure better
food restaurants, mobile food stands/kiosks and workplace cafe- consistency of the sample. However, when the study’s interview
terias. The focus on full service restaurants was deliberate given schedule was tested with willing managers of the independent and
they hold the largest share of the restaurant market in the UK and chain-affiliated restaurants in the UK and the Netherlands, no sig-
the Netherlands. The interviewees were purposely selected based nificant variations in the approaches to food waste management
on their experience and insights into the phenomenon under study adopted across the test sample were identified. Further, the test
(Lincoln and Guba, 1985). The recruitment criteria applied to interviews included a number of questions to establish possible
participating restaurants were as follows: full service restaurant correlation between a restaurant’s ownership model and its ap-
which has been in operation under the current management team proaches to food waste management. The test interviews revealed
for at least one year; manager’s readiness and willingness to speak no significant correlation and, hence, recruitment of restaurateurs
about the challenge of food waste in their restaurant, including the for the main phase of the study only considered those enterprises
availability of basic background data at hand, such as on quantity that matched the recruitment criteria specified above. In the UK,
and character of food waste generated and its main drivers; man- willing restaurateurs were almost equally represented by both
ager’s availability to partake in an interview and have this interview chain-affiliated and independent enterprises (which is in part due
recorded by researchers for data analysis and interpretation. to London being a more business vibrant and diverse market)
The interviews were conducted in MarcheMay 2018 in London, while, in the Netherlands, these were represented by the in-
a capital of the UK, and in JanuaryeFebruary 2019 in Breda, a city in dependents only (which is partially because Breda is smaller and
the southern part of the Netherlands. Thirty-one interviews lasting less vibrant in terms of business opportunities). Although some
30e60 min were recorded and later fully transcribed verbatim. discrepancy in the approaches to food waste management adopted
Saturation of conceptual themes determined the sample size (Fusch in the independent and chain-affiliated restaurants in the UK was
and Ness, 2015) which was reached with 16 interviews in the UK established in the main phase of the study (see the Findings and
and 15 interviews in the Netherlands. In all cases, the interviewees discussion section), this discrepancy was not significant.
were assured of confidentiality and anonymity in any written The transcripts were analysed thematically. The authors read
report or publications. Table 1 summarises participant profiles. the transcripts to become familiar with the data and identified
It is important to pinpoint the dominance of the independent patterns of meanings of the participants’ responses to the questions

Table 1
Interview participants (n ¼ 31).

Code Typea Profile (Gender, Education level, Managerial position) Industry experience

The United Kingdom

UK1 Independent Male, Hospitality Graduate, General Manager 10þ years
UK2 Chain-affiliated Male, No hospitality degree, General Manager 2þ years
UK3 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, General Manager 5þ years
UK4 Chain-affiliated Female, Hospitality Graduate, Operations Manager 5þ years
UK5 Chain-affiliated Female, Hospitality Graduate, General Manager 2þ years
UK6 Chain-affiliated Male, No hospitality degree, Owner of the chain 2þ years
UK7 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, General Manager 10þ years
UK8 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Operations Manager 3þ years
UK9 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Owner 20þ years
UK10 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Owner and Head Chef 10þ years
UK11 Chain-affiliated Female, Hospitality Graduate, General Manager 5þ years
UK12 Chain-affiliated Male, No hospitality degree, General Manager 2þ years
UK13 Chain-affiliated Male, No hospitality degree, Operations Manager and Head Chef 10þ years
UK14 Chain-affiliated Male, No hospitality degree, General Manager 10þ years
UK15 Independent Female, No hospitality degree, General Manager 2þ years
UK16 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Operations Manager and Head Chef 5þ years
The Netherlands
NL1 Independent Male, Hospitality Graduate, Chef 10þ years
NL2 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Owner/chef 10þ years
NL3 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Owner/Manager 2þ years
NL4 Independent Female, No hospitality degree, Owner 9þ years
NL5 Independent Female, No hospitality degree, Owner/Manager 23þ years
NL6 Independent Female, No hospitality degree, Owner 10þ years
NL7 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Owner 25þ years
NL8 Independent Male, Hospitality Graduate, Manager 5þ years
NL9 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Manager 8 years
NL10 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Manager 12 years
NL11 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Manager 1þ years
NL12 Independent Male, Hospitality Graduate, Manager 6þ years
NL13 Independent Male, Hospitality Graduate, Manager 13 years
NL14 Independent Male, No hospitality degree, Manager 10þ years
NL15 Independent Male, Hospitality Graduate, Manager 25þ years
a
Chain-affiliated restaurants are those that are obliged to follow the corporate agenda of the main brands as they operate on the basis of a franchise business model.
International examples of such restaurants include Pizza Hut, Nando’s and Zizzi. In contrast, independent restaurants are not bound to any contractual agreement with a
corporate owner and have total freedom in how they operate.
6 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775

asked (Berg, 2009). The responses were then collated under com- manager in response to changing market demands also contributed
mon themes, coded and labelled. Where disagreements were to wastage due to the disposal of unfinished stocks. Similar to
noted, researchers re-read the themes, referred back to the litera- findings reported in previous research, portion size was repeatedly
ture, discussed their differences and further refined the classifica- mentioned by participants as a facilitator of plate waste (Freedman
tions until agreement was reached. Schutz’s (1973) logical and Brochado, 2010; Wansink and van Ittersum, 2013; Williamson
consistency and subjective interpretation postulates were applied et al. 2016). However, in the current study, it appeared participants
throughout the entire process to ensure trustworthiness of the appreciated the role of large portions in fostering customer satis-
data. Exemplar excerpts from the transcripts of each of the themes faction rather than its impact on food wastage. Interestingly, re-
were presented to support the findings. spondents serving buffets also commented on plate waste. They
As with any study, this one has limitations. First, the findings do complained about the amount of edible waste left on customer
not necessarily pertain to all restaurants and need to be interpreted plates. It can, however, be argued that restaurateurs are account-
with caution when applied to other types of restaurants such as able for this wastage given that people choose larger food portions
quick-service restaurants where food is less consumed on the at buffet style restaurants in comparison to restaurants serving a la
premises. Second, selection bias resulting from the recruitment of carte menus (Juvan et al. 2018):
restaurant managers in London and Breda limits the transferability
‘When I told him [chef] to reduce the portion prepared because of
of the findings to other contexts. Third, resource and time con-
too much wastage, he said that he didn’t want to lower the portion
straints precluded cross-interviewing although the authors shared
because he was afraid to disappoint the guests. Since the costs are
experiences during and after the interviews (Quilgars et al. 2009).
quite low, he’d rather satisfy everyone and risk the food being
The study’s findings are presented next.
thrown away. Our main goal is to make people happy. The choices
we make are mostly based on this and not on the food we waste’
5. Findings and discussion
(NL3)
5.1. The magnitude of restaurant food waste and its key drivers
Some participants also thought that insufficient food ordering
5.1.1. Magnitude and cooking skills, poor communication between the kitchen and
Even though most participants were aware of food wastage in serving staff regarding customer orders, especially at busy times,
their establishments they were unable to accurately track or were contributing factors to high plate waste. These comments
quantify it. Most reported gross visual observation of food waste by illuminate basic in-house operational procedures rather than irre-
counting the number of waste bins set for collection by the local sponsible consumer behaviour in food waste generation. The lack of
authorities and/or private collectors. This result is not too surpris- efficient interaction between back-of-house and front-of-house
ing. The dearth of accurate assessments of food waste is a persistent services coupled with inadequate employee training on how to
issue across the restaurant sector which inhibits effective mitiga- cook, plate and serve food to avoid wastage are recognised causes
tion (Filimonau and de Coteau, 2019; Papargyropoulou et al. 2016; of restaurant food waste (Goh and Jie, 2019):
Pirani and Arafat, 2016). It stems from the lack of in-house training
‘Human mistakes can also cause food to be wasted. For example, we
on how to measure food waste, but also arises due to the external
can order 10 kilos of a certain foodstuff or ingredient instead of 1
provision of inadequate waste collection and disposal services
kilo. Sometimes, it happens in our restaurants that a waiter gets an
(Sakaguchi et al. 2018) and the fact that municipal waste collections
order of certain food and the chef prepares something different or
can be irregular (Manomaivibool, 2015). Lastly, in the Dutch
prepares the wrong quantities of food’ (NL2)
context, time was referenced as a main barrier towards monitoring
the quantity and character of wasted food which is in line with the
literature (Filimonau et al. 2019b). The explicit guest contribution to food waste was only identi-
Despite probing, the actual amount of food waste generated fied in two situations. First, some managers blamed customers for
rarely resonated. Instead, most participants used words such as pre-ordering meals, but then not showing. Second, and consistent
‘significant’ and ‘moderate’ with the two fine dining restaurants in with past research, participants believed high plate waste during
the Netherlands reporting minimal food waste in their operations. major functions and/or events was due to their festive nature,
Social desirability is one of many factors that may explain partici- where the need to socialise prevailed over environmental con-
pants’ comments describing the magnitude of food waste given the cerns and/or social norms (Wang et al. 2017). One participant
potentially negative implications that providing such estimate stated:
could have for their businesses (Filimonau et al. 2019b).
‘For me, I find that, when we have plated dinner service, when we
have bookings, we keep plan of items we need to prep for the
5.1.2. Drivers
evening and there’s little wastage. But when we have banquets,
Two main drivers of food waste were repeatedly mentioned, i.e.
that’s when people, they see the food and they take as much as they
customer plates (managers in both study areas place the blame
can, so even if they don’t eat it they still fill their plate and they sit
squarely on consumers) and kitchen processes. This pair of findings
on it and talk, and they come back for seconds, there’s a lot of food
is consistent with previous studies that noted losses during food
wastage and, of course, we have to prepare for that, so we’d have to
preparation and the tendency of the industry professionals to shift
make a lot more food than usual. So, definitely banquets is a big
responsibility towards customers for plate waste (Graham-Rowe
stress for us’ (UK8)
et al. 2013; Principato et al. 2018; SRA, 2010; WRAP, 2013c). The
data revealed that irresponsible consumer behaviour was in part
driven by the cooking practices adopted by the studied restaurants The comment above highlights the importance of effective
and further exacerbated by the nature of their business models. For demand forecasting for food waste management. The in-
example, some managers stated they employed larger menus to terviewees in both study areas felt that procurement strategies
provide customers with a broad range of choices. This, however, determined the amounts of food spoilage. This result is in line
involved ordering foodstuffs in bulk that were not always with previous studies in which spoilage accounts for a noticeable
consumed. Periodic alterations to the choice menu initiated by the
 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775 7

share of restaurant food waste and occurs due to incorrect stor- 5.2.1. Demand forecasting, pro-active work with suppliers, effective
age or overstocking, which is driven by erroneous demand pre- on-site storage
dictions (SRA, 2010; Winnow, 2018; WRAP, 2013c). Spoilage Effective food storage and handling was identified by all par-
further relates to the problem of large menus, as discussed above, ticipants as a vehicle to prevent food waste. They emphasised the
because these prompt managers to order excessive stock. Many need to continuously maintain the ‘cold chain’ and provide
restaurateurs in the UK (unlike in the Netherlands) stated that adequate storage facilities (Girotto et al. 2015). Demand forecasting
the lack of careful planning of the amounts of food needed to be and maintaining good relationships with suppliers was also iden-
purchased and prepared in a given period resulted in large tified as critical actions towards food waste mitigation. In particular,
amounts of food wastage: the Dutch sample explained their arrangements with a small
number of local food suppliers in order to build more responsive
‘The volume of restaurant business is not stable, it’s fluctuating a
supply chains:
lot, meaning you cannot control your stock, you don’t know how
much you’re gonna prepare and you don’t know how much you’re ‘We try to work with a small number of suppliers, to make it easier
gonna order. And then it becomes an issue “Ohh, you’re short of this for ourselves. It can make a difference in a way that if they come
or you prepared too much of that…” So that’s the biggest problem only a couple times a week you might have to throw away things
we are having because of unstable business volume’ (UK9) faster than when they come on a daily basis’ (NL4)

This situation not only calls for the adoption of more efficient In line with findings from Murphy and Smith (2009), the study
demand forecasting techniques, but also emphasises the need to revealed that frequent food deliveries can facilitate menu planning
provide adequate in-house training on forecasting and procure- and improve stock inventory management. This was less the case in
ment to operations managers and chefs (Filimonau and de Coteau, London though which can arguably reflect the challenges of food
2019). logistics in a metro-city (Kin et al. 2017). This notwithstanding, in
The need to comply with regulations on food safety by disposing the UK there was a strong primacy of managerial and chef profi-
foodstuffs that surpassed their ‘use by’ dates was mentioned by ciency in the supply chain management. This emphasises the need
many managers in both the UK and the Netherlands as a driver of for relevant training for staff in negotiation skills in order to reduce
wastage. They believed that strict regulations did not only lead to food waste as suggested by Filimonau and de Coteau (2019):
disposal of food which could still be consumed, but also prevented
‘We undertake regular trainings to ensure our employees know
donation of unsold food to the people in need, which will be dis-
how to work with suppliers. Having a reliable and responsive
cussed in the next section. Schneider (2013) argues that stringent
supply chain is critical in preventing food waste occurrence. We
food safety standards hinder the willingness of many restaurateurs
know we can order as much food as we need, and we know this
to reuse excess food despite the dominant managerial perception of
food will be delivered in a timely manner, meaning no scope for
this food being safe to consume. The following quote is typical of
wastage … ’ (UK12)
participants’ concerns:
‘I think expiry dates are a marketing trick, I think most food can still
be eaten a couple days after the date. That should be changed if you
ask me because it puts pressure on us to throw away good food 5.2.2. Repurpose
which can still be eaten’ (NL1) When accurate forecasting did not work, the sampled restau-
rants dealt with excess stock in a number of ways. Some managers
pointed out that they regularly re-designed their menus to re-
Participants in both study areas recognised the need to mini-
purpose spare ingredients. However, such practices appear to be
mise food wastage in their establishments as a means of reducing
best suited to independent restaurants that possess more freedom
operational costs. Reputational gains were also mentioned as a
and flexibility in terms of menu (re-)design (Filimonau and
benefit of food waste mitigation. Few respondents mentioned
Krivcova, 2017). Chain-affiliated establishments are less likely to
goals of environmental conservation as justification to prevent
use this approach given their menus are more static and any
food wastage. This result is not surprising given the participants
changes to them may require approval from the brand owner.
operate for profit. Previous research indicated that cost saving and
Further, to minimise wastage of food which was about to expire,
corporate image building represent the main drivers of engaging
many managers would regularly monitor the ‘use by’ dates in their
in food waste mitigation among restaurateurs (Chan, 2013). The
foodstuff inventories and label those with the shortest shelf life to
mitigation approaches adopted by the participants are discussed
ensure they get used first:
next.
‘If we see something is going towards being wasted, we’ll put it on
the “specials” board so, for that night, it’ll turn into the Special of
5.2. Mitigation approaches the Evening and we’ll tell waiters to push that particular dish so we
get rid of it. Otherwise, we’ll try to incorporate the different in-
Fig. 1 summarises the approaches to food waste management gredients into other dishes, so just to get rid of that final product
adopted in restaurants in the UK and the Netherlands alongside a before we actually have to throw it away because it’s good until
number of best practices whose adoption should be facilitated. It that final point. And we also rely on the FIFO system, so that’s first-
demonstrates the extant focus placed by managers in both samples in-first-out, so we just monitor, we date and we try not to open
on the prevention of on-site food waste occurrence via demand fresh containers unless we’re going to use it all’ (UK1)
forecasting. In terms of management of kitchen processes, Fig. 1
shows the restaurateurs have invested in effective food storage
and handling. The passive disposal of food waste dominates across
the board while, due to various reasons, managers tend to ignore 5.2.3. Role of consumer behaviour
the opportunities to repurpose excess ingredients, reduce plate As plate waste was reported as a major issue, managers were asked
waste and redistribute unsold food. to elaborate upon the approaches they adopted for its mitigation. A
8 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775

Fig. 1. Approaches to food waste mitigation in restaurants.

small number of participants stated that they offered their customers to upset customers with order limit as it may create a suspicion of
an opportunity to choose the size of portions they preferred. However, restaurateurs downsizing their diners. Hence, when communi-
as discussed above, this approach was popular only with the in- cating the order limit to the guests, it is important to use only the
dependents while respondents from the chain affiliates spoke about ‘right’ language. For instance, messages should communicate in-
their inability to deviate from standard portion sizes. Likewise, some formation on the societal goal of environmental conservation and
independent Dutch restaurants chose to deliberately offer their appeal to social norms and customer’s self-esteem, rather than
guests portions that are small, but allowing seconds. This may be business profitability (Pearson and Perera, 2018):
partially justified by the evidence that restaurant guests tend to opt
‘We do steer guests towards ordering the standard portion size. We
for smaller portions due to health concerns (WRAP, 2013d). The
train staff to not encourage guests to order when they still have
problem with such approach is that it may put off those customers
chips on the table. We also do that when people order too much,
who associate ‘value for money’ with large portions when eating out
then I ask them: shall we start with two of these dishes and then see
(Diliberti et al. 2004). In addition, such approach may reduce plate
if you like more after that? It is difficult, because people come here
waste but increase kitchen waste as the food would still need to be
to spoil themselves’ (NL10)
prepared in anticipation of potential demand and could subsequently
be discarded if the guests could not eat twice as much or more.
Therefore, a more effective way may be to charge customers by weight In addition, in the UK, some managers had tried, with limited
of the food on the plate. Such practice has been adopted and proven success, offering customers take-out boxes ,or doggy bags, to
effective in buffet style establishments: reduce plate waste. The reasons why these interventions did not
work included the fact that some guests refused their leftover
‘Although we use buffet here, we minimize food waste by allowing
boxed because they felt embarrassed (Mirosa et al. 2018) and health
customers to get their own portions and pay by weight. We think
regulations that prescribed restaurants to guarantee the safety of
paying by weight is a big influence keeping food waste to a mini-
boxed food. For the latter reason, many managers felt it was an
mum’ (NL12)
unnecessary hassle and, so, discarded the leftover food instead. A
handful of those who provided the boxes pro-actively chose to sign
In the hospitality industry, price disincentives represent a a disclaimer:
powerful tool to affect consumer behaviour. Yet, they should be
‘The customer is always welcome to have a take-away bag but,
used with caution given their potential to negatively impact
unfortunately, we no longer offer them pro-actively as we’ve had a
customer loyalty (Nisa et al. 2017). Hence, restaurateurs may use
few complaints in the past where the customers said that it looked
‘softer’ initiatives such as adopting consumer choice architecture
cheap for them to be offered a to-go bag. But, yeah, if they ask for a
tools (Jagau and Vyrastekova, 2017) and communication with
take-away box, we will bring the box to the table and they can
consumers to encourage voluntary behavioural changes (Graham-
either put it in, which is best as they can see it’s their food inside, or
Rowe et al. 2013). Majority of Dutch managers stated that they
we’ll do it then at the back for them but it’s not ideal and we’re best
proactively sensitized customers to the negative consequences of
to provide a disclaimer … ’ (UK11)
food wastage and the role consumer behaviour played in its pre-
vention. They explained that they routinely monitored guests’
feedback on the quality of food and the amount served. Further, Interestingly, some managers believed their national govern-
some UK and Dutch restaurants set limits on the amount of food ments should do more by educating the public about the detri-
items customers could order at once. Great care should be taken not mental effect of irresponsible consumption in restaurants to avoid
 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775 9

food wastage. At the same time, they largely failed to see their own adoption of such initiatives was attributed to the limited provision
role in changing the customer mind-set by, for example, insisting of food waste recycling services by the local authorities and the lack
on the acceptance of doggy bags or penalizing customers for food of space for compositing systems as most restaurants operated in
leftovers (Jagau and Vyrastekova, 2017; Sirieix et al. 2017; Sto € ckli busy city centres. Notwithstanding, two restaurateurs reported
et al. 2018b). what could be described as ‘good practices’ in this regard. One UK
independent restaurant had a contract with a local farm to which it
5.2.4. Surplus food redistribution supplied most of its food leftovers to be subsequently used for
This study supported the need for the re-distribution of edible composting. One Dutch restaurant worked with a local recycling
surplus food. Managers in both study areas stated that any excess company which collected their food waste with its subsequent
food was redirected towards staff meals. When queried about conversion into biogas. The rare occurrence of such practices across
donating excess food, most participants said they did not provide the sector is well recognised (Kuczman et al. 2018) which highlights
such services to charities (UK) or foodbanks (Netherlands). Despite the need for policy interventions in support of managerial
a significant interest in food donations, restaurateurs were deterred commitment to convert wasted food into valuable material
by stringent regulations on donating unsold food in the EU (Boeck (Principato et al. 2018). In addition to incentivising restaurateurs for
et al. 2017). Managers in both study areas indicated these as a major the adoption of such food waste management practices, policy
consideration in their (un)willingness to donate unsold food to the support is required to provide adequate recycling facilities for food
people in need and/or charities and food banks. The health and waste locally, but also to ensure the quality of food waste collec-
safety standards were described as being particularly rigid in both tions. The irregularity and unreliability of the latter were reported
countries. Pirani and Arafat (2014) suggest that these can be off- as obstacles towards food waste recycling by a number of the UK
putting for restaurateurs because of the requirement to consider and Dutch managers. Micro-scale anaerobic digestion may offer a
how long the food has been outside the ‘cold chain’ before donating potential solution to this issue given the pilots have shown its
it and to list all allergens on the packaging to prevent a reaction. In feasibility for deployment in urban areas (Walker et al. 2017).
line with Filimonau et al. (2019b), this makes most establishments Despite its reactive nature, binning food waste was the most
choose to reject food donations in fear of bad publicity: prevalent practice among the managers as it was easy and cheap
(Papargyropoulou et al. 2016). Its adoption was further justified by
‘Donating is very difficult. I mean, what we’d like to do, really, is to the absence of pressure from the local authorities with regard to
give food to homeless people. But they [government] just make it so pro-active management of food waste. Some managers admitted
difficult for us to do that. It’s awful, because by not following their that passive disposal was wrong from the viewpoint of environ-
rules you can get in trouble. It’s much cheaper and easier for us to mental conservation. However, from the perspective of business
just dump the leftover food … We can’t just go down the road and profitability, it was the least laborious and most cost-effective
hand it out … Even if we hand it out, we’ve got to list all of the approach to adopt, which is line with findings of Filimonau et al.
allergens and everything, you can’t just give someone food and (2019b). For many restaurants in both the UK and the
forget about it’ (UK6) Netherlands, without adequate policy incentives to promote pro-
‘We work with the Voedselbank [Dutch food bank] where we active food waste management on the ground, passive disposal is
donate our leftover food, but that is only when it’s not bad. We got likely to retain its popularity in the foreseeable future:
by the government regulations which state that we cannot just give ‘To be honest, we should do more about it [food waste]. We sort
anyhow. If the food has stayed for a long time outside the cold plastics, glass and paper, but we don’t separate food waste. The
chain, then we’re not allowed to donate, and the Voedselbanks are reason for that is that it’s just easier to throw everything in the
not allowed to receive it either’ (NL14) same bin, it’s more time-efficient. The company which collects the
garbage also does not separate the waste, so it’d not make sense for
The analysis showed that size and type of restaurants influenced us to do it. If they changed their system, we’d not have another
food waste mitigation measures, which is in line with findings re- option as to also separate our waste. That would be the best so-
ported by Kasim (2009). Small and fine dining restaurants’ man- lution’ (NL11)
agers who claimed to have minimal waste in their kitchens not only
gave leftovers to staff and immediate family members, but also
repurposed excess foodstuffs by creating completely new dishes, 5.3. Summary
leaving limited room for donations:
‘When we have something left over, we cannot serve anymore, we This study set to explore and compare approaches to food waste
eat it ourselves … On Sundays my family eats fish sometimes management in restaurants of the UK and the Netherlands. It
because I do not want to throw it away. These are usually around revealed a number of similarities and differences in how restau-
2e3 portions, so it’s good for a family’ (NL7) rateurs in both markets tackle the growing societal challenge of
food waste. These similarities and differences can be attributed to a
number of political, legal, (wider) societal and cultural factors. In
terms of the similarities, currently, both countries are the EU
5.2.5. On-site separation and recycling members and, subsequently, bound to operate under the same legal
Apparently, restaurants can separate and subsequently compost framework concerning food waste management, such as the EU
and/or recycle food waste after the options to reduce its occurrence Waste Legislation (European Commission, 2019). Although this
and/or repurpose wasted food have been exhausted framework has been designed to promote prevention of food waste
(Papargyropoulou et al. 2016). In the UK, participants routinely at each stage of the food supply chain, including restaurants, it does
separated food waste in their properties. While those in the not necessarily reinforce prevention measures applied by specific
Netherlands can learn from the UK experience and vice versa on (agricultural, food manufacturing, grocery retail and/or food ser-
how to dispose of food waste, it is important to note the low vice) businesses on the ground (FUSIONS, 2016). This offers EU
adoption of food waste management options such as composting restaurateurs a scope of flexibility when selecting approaches to
and recycling among participants in both study areas. The low food waste management. As this study found, in the UK and the
10 V. Filimonau et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 258 (2020) 120775

Netherlands, restaurants tend to take advantage of those manage- providing adequate facilities to recycle food waste in cities and
ment approaches that are less laborious and most cost-effective ensuring reliable food waste collections are warranted.
from the business operational viewpoint. These are represented Considering these sets of food waste management options raises
by passive disposal of food waste, preparation of staff meals out of a number of potential research opportunities. First, there is the
surplus food ingredients and attempts to accurately forecast (food) need to investigate how restaurateurs in the UK and the
demand (Fig. 1). As for the differences in the approaches to food Netherlands repurpose excess foodstuffs, implement plate waste
waste management (Fig. 1), a (slightly) more popular use of portion reduction strategies and how they redistribute surplus food. For
control in restaurants in the Netherlands can be explained by the example, we know little about how the nudging interventions
(wider) societal and cultural effects as Dutch consumers are aimed at preventing plate waste apply in real-life settings and the
deemed to possess high(er) levels of environmental (Eijgelaar et al. feasibility of their rollout across the sector. Second, one ambiguous
2016) and health (Strijbos et al. 2016) awareness. Likewise, a issue is how food waste management systems in restaurants relate
(slightly) better feasibility of the food-to-go boxes identified for the to each other in the EU and non-EU countries. It would seem likely
UK market can be at least partially explained by the role of media that similarities and/or differences in the approaches may exist
that have consistently attempted at highlighting the important role while their underpinning reasons may be based on the variations in
of changes to customer behaviour in reducing the challenge of the national political contexts and patterns of out-of-home food
restaurant food waste (Young et al. 2017). By revealing these sim- consumption. Our comparative analysis has provided some clues
ilarities and differences in the approaches to food waste manage- about the type of ‘good business’ practices that fit with underlying
ment in restaurants of the UK and the Netherlands, this paper has restaurant characteristics. However, other types of public eateries
provided a preliminary and exploratory analysis of the underpin- have different restaurant concepts. Are the same food waste man-
ning factors. This analysis can aid in the design of policies and agement systems used across all full service restaurants or are
management approaches to be adopted in the food service sectors different management options used in different restaurants? If the
of the UK and the Netherlands for more effective mitigation. latter, then how do these different management systems related to
each other in a consistent way and how do they impact each other?
6. Conclusions And finally, do different food waste mitigation measures in res-
taurants produce different outcomes if applied across the EU?
Responding to the calls for more comparative, cross-market These research questions warrant further investigation.
research on the main societal challenge of food waste and its
mitigation, this study facilitated understanding of the phenomenon Declaration of competing interest
of food waste and its management in full service restaurants in the
UK and the Netherlands. By comparing the two markets, it The authors declare no conflict of interest.
demonstrated a substantial degree of similarity in how British and
Dutch restaurateurs tackle the challenge of wasted food. More Appendix A. Supplementary data
specifically, it showed that managers tend to employ the demand
forecasting techniques and, when these do not work, rely upon Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
passive waste disposal. The study showed limited managerial at- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120775.
tempts to repurpose excess ingredients, reduce plate waste, and/or
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