Towards more sustainable food systems
- Autores: Belén Derqui
- Directores de la Tesis: Vicenc Fernández Alarcón (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) ( España ) en 2017
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Ercilia García Álvarez (presid.), Eva Gallardo Gallardo (secret.), Maria Angels Fitó Bertrán (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Administración y Dirección de Empresas por la Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TDX
- Resumen
Context: Globalization, increased competition for natural resources, the rise of non-financial performance indicators in decision making, among other new trends have made sustainability more and more relevant and linked to business performance. Food corporations face a particularly challenging environment, and therefore understanding in which ways can business managers improve the sustainability of the global food supply chain becomes decisive. As a result of unsustainable production and consumption, food waste has emerged as a global issue with relevant implications in the three spheres of sustainability.
Objectives: The goal of this Doctoral Thesis is to find out opportunities and paths for business managers related to sustainability. As a secondary objective, we aimed to understand business practices that could lead to food waste minimization. To achieve these goals, we have divided the research in three studies. The first one aimed to understand the relevance of food waste in the food service sector in Spain, categorize what is considered food waste and describe its drivers as well as reduction best practices. Through the second study we developed an auditing tool to help measuring food waste in educational institutions and, finally, in the third study we list and prioritize food waste reduction interventions based on school managers¿ willingness to adopt them.
Method: The studies performed in this thesis follow deductive as well as inductive processes. We obtained and analysed both qualitative and quantitative data from different sources, essentially food service corporations, with a focus on school catering, as well as their main stakeholders. The field of the research was Spain. We used a mixed methods approach, including in-depth interviews to food service organizations and school managers, a waste audit in which we measured food waste from over 10,000 meals in four schools in Barcelona and a questionnaire with 420 responses by school principals. Results: : The role of top management in the sustainability of an organization is key, and there is an important lack of visibility and awareness on how much food is wasted. We identified best practices that could improve the sustainability of the food supply chain and developed a self- assessment tool to be used by schools in order to measure and track food waste at their canteens. We came up with three different categorizations of food waste and concluded on reduction best practices using these classifications. In brief, we found two main areas of action to address food waste: 1) Improving the visibility and awareness of waste in order to tackle pre-consumer waste because managers will translate this into an opportunity of improved efficiency; and, 2) Reducing post-consumer waste (mainly plate waste) through educational and awareness campaigns.
Implications: The result of this research will allow business managers a better understanding of unsustainable practice drivers and hence will help food corporations and schools to move towards sustainability. Moreover, I aim to shed light on new business practices required for food corporations in order to embrace sustainability and therefore long term success
