Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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

Food waste in hospitality and food services: A systematic literature

review and framework development approach
Amandeep Dhir a, b, *, Shalini Talwar c, Puneet Kaur d, b, Areej Malibari e, f
a
School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland
b
Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
c
K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai, India
d
Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway
e
College of Engineering, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
f
Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Computing & IT, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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

Article history: This study critically analyzes the state-of-the-art of food waste in the hospitality and food services (HaFS)
Received 10 January 2020 sector body of literature. It uses a systematic literature review (SLR) approach implemented through
Received in revised form search, evaluation, and synthesis of peer-reviewed articles. The primary focus is on uncovering key
23 April 2020
research themes and gaps in the extant knowledge to edify and advance a future research agenda.
Accepted 14 June 2020
Available online 9 July 2020
Content analysis is used to aggregate the selected articles around nine themes representing various
aspects of food waste. The themes range from the causes of waste generation to leftover handling and
Handling Editor: Prof. Jiri Jaromir Kleme
s waste reduction. Additionally, extensive research profiling is undertaken to present summary statistics of
the selected articles in terms of research design, methods of data analysis, variables investigated, and the
Keywords: theoretical lens used. The SLR raises some interesting research questions and offers actionable inferences
Food waste for practice. The study concludes with a framework that brings the findings together to inform future
Food loss empirical research in the area.
Hospitality food service © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
Waste reduction
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Intervention
Sustainability

1. Introduction wastes that are consumed at times, but not always, such as potato
skins (Papargyropoulou et al., 2014). Scholars also argue that these
Food waste is defined as the use of food meant for consumption three broad classifications of food waste may differ in different
by humans for non-consumption purposes, the redirection of food cultural contexts (Liu, 2014).
to feed animals, or the disposal of edible food (FAO, 2014). It in- In the prior literature, some scholars have used the term “food
cludes the edible as well as inedible parts of food that get removed loss” as a synonym for food waste (e.g., Betz et al., 2015). However,
from the food supply chain and which can be recovered or managed others have distinguished between the two, where “food loss”
€
through disposal (Ostergren et al., 2014). Furthermore, food waste represents food waste at the start of the value-add chain, while
can be grouped into three different types: (a) avoidable waste, “food waste” refers to food lost at the end of the chain (Parfitt et al.,
which is food that was edible at some point in time but has become 2010). Taking both views into consideration, we treated food loss
inedible by the time it reaches disposal; (b) unavoidable waste, and food waste as the same. We argue that food loss or waste is
which refers to certain items, like eggshells, that are not edible; and observed at different stages of the food chain, including the con-
(c) potentially avoidable food waste, which applies to particular sumption stage (Martin-Rios et al., 2018). Waste at the stage of
consumption can be generated at the household level (home din-
ing) or at the hospitality level (out-of-home dining). The hospitality
sector, representing out-of-home dining, can be further subdivided
* Corresponding author. School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta into three parts: non-commercial, commercial, and other food
University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland.
E-mail addresses: amandeep.dhir@lut.fi (A. Dhir), [email protected]
services (Betz et al., 2015).
(S. Talwar), puneet.kaur@aalto.fi, [email protected] (P. Kaur), aamalibari@pnu. Hospitality sector food waste is fast becoming a key concern,
edu.sa (A. Malibari).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122861
0959-6526/© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
).
2 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861

given that its contribution to total food waste has been nearly 12% extant literature in the area.
in the recent past (Tostivint et al., 2016). Furthermore, with the The synthesis from the current systematic literature review
increasing trend of out-of-home dining, spurred by growth in in- (SLR) study uncovered thematic foci and research gaps related to
comes and tourism, hospitality waste has become a significant food waste in the profit sector of HaFS, such as the robustness of the
issue for both developed and developing countries (Wang et al., methods used, the reliability of the samples, the geographic
2017). Although the amount of food-related waste generated in coverage, the demographic factors, the behavioral manifestations,
this sector is frequently discussed in the media, it has not yet got the theoretical frameworks, and the narrowness of the variables
sufficient academic attention (Filimonau and De Coteau, 2019). explored. The extensive analysis of the selected studies resulted in
Other scholars have also acknowledged that the issue of food- the development of a framework for research and provides useful
related waste in this sector has been investigated less rigorously inferences for practice.
despite being recognized as a key challenge (Principato et al., 2018;
Wang et al., 2017). 2. Hospitality and food services sector
The extant literature examining food waste in the hospitality
sector has focused on a diversity of topics, such as food waste quan- The HaFS sector includes all outlets that serve food and/or
tification, the composition of waste; waste handling; doggy bags; the drinks for immediate intake in an out-of-home setting (WRAP,
attitudes of consumers; demographic factors; governmental regula- 2013). It includes several key sub-domains, such as restaurants,
tions, interventions, and nudges; composting; and landfills. While hotels, health care, education, and staff catering (WRAP, 2013).
scholars have ventured into the visible spectrum of the sub-domains Speaking broadly, restaurants include establishments serving
of food waste, most of their findings remain in different silos, lack different cuisines, such as Italian, Chinese, Indian, or French, as well
generalizability, have a narrow focus and scale, and have limited as quick-service restaurants offering both eat-in or take-away at
geographical scope. For instance, Filimonau et al. (2019b) noted that various locations, including those offering leisure. Hotels include
related research has largely ignored the managerial aspect of food accommodation providers such as luxury hotels, budget hotels, bed
waste mitigation. Similarly, despite the issue being more noticeable in & breakfasts, and youth hostels. Health care includes hospitals,
developing economies, Papargyropoulou et al. (2019) argued that the nursing homes, and care centers. Education includes preschools,
extant literature is skewed toward developed nations. With the primary and secondary schools, tertiary education centers, colleges,
reduction of food waste being a crucial objective at both national and and universities. Staff catering includes canteens and cafeterias
international levels due to its linkage with food sustainability located in workplaces for feeding employees.
(Thamagasorn and Pharino, 2019) and implications in terms of Many scholars have defined hospitality to include both com-
increased use of natural resources (Wunderlich and Martinez, 2018), mercial as well as social aspects (Brotherton, 1999; Brotherton and
the existence of such limited academic literature is quite concerning, Wood, 2000). This description is congruent with recent research,
and impetus needs to be given to research in the area. The embryonic where the hospitality sector has been argued to comprise com-
state of prior studies in terms of both width and depth reinforces the mercial, non-commercial, and other food service sectors (Betz et al.,
exigency to bring the fragmented findings together to propel future 2015). Similarly, according to Marthinsen et al. (2012), hospitality
research. We propose to address the gap through a systematic review comprises two sectors: profit and cost. The profit sector includes
of the literature on food waste in this sector. hotels, restaurants, and cafe s (HORECA); canteens; and catering,
Admittedly, there are some noteworthy literature reviews in the such as in supermarkets, while the cost sector comprises accom-
domain, but most of the relatively recent ones were focused on modation and food service in establishments like schools, univer-
diverse aspects of food waste, such as households (Hebrok and sities, health care, and other establishments where profit from
Boks, 2017; Roodhuyzen et al., 2017; Schanes et al., 2018), hospi- hospitality services is not the key consideration. Furthermore, some
tality operations (Filimonau and De Coteau, 2019), sustainability prior studies have classified educational and health care estab-
(Baig et al., 2019; Carino et al., 2020; Lemaire and Limbourg, 2019), lishments as institutional food waste generators (Ai and Zheng,
food waste accounting (Corrado and Sala, 2018), interventions 2019).
€
(Reynolds et al., 2019), the food supply chain (Ozbük and Coşkun, The hospitality sector is quite complex, as acknowledged by
2019), solid waste management (Pirani and Arafat, 2014), and na- prior scholars (Filimonau and De Coteau, 2019), and even though
tional school lunch programs 1978e2015 (Byker Shanks et al., there are some common tracks, nuances of food waste are different
2017). It is evident from the above that there are limited reviews for the profit and cost sectors. For instance, while restaurants can
focusing specifically on food waste in the hospitality sector. Of the consider food donation/charity, hospitals may not have that option
recent reviews, only one, conducted by Filimonau and De Coteau due to the risk of infection. Similarly, while schools can offer left-
(2019), amalgamates the findings of studies on food waste in the over lunches at subsidized rates by using leftovers in serving dishes
hospitality sector. Their review synthesized prior findings to pro- after the schoolchildren have finished (Laakso, 2017), the same may
vide a food waste mitigation framework from the standpoint of not be possible for restaurants that serve diners throughout the
managers in hospitality operations. day. Additionally, we feel that due to the growing trend toward
Our study uses this review as a conversant/referent article and privately owned hospitals, elder care, retirement homes, and
builds on its findings in three ways: (a) by conceptualizing the nursing homes, catering in such establishments may not always be
hospitality sector as the hospitality and food services (HaFS) sector a part of the cost sector. This is particularly relevant for countries
in light of the extant definitions and delineating it into three clear where medical facilities are not government-funded. Based on this,
sub-domains, which can help create a more nuanced analysis, (b) we propose that the HaFS sector may be considered as comprising
by including academic research specifically on the profit sector of three key segments: (a) the business segment, including accom-
HaFS, and (c) by developing a framework for academic research, modations and food service at hotels, restaurants, cafe s, workplace
thereby adding a new dimension to the practice-oriented view- canteens, inflight catering, snack bars, coffee shops, and pubs; (b)
point offered by the existing review. Specifically, our main research the education segment, including nurseries, hobby classes, primary
question is how the state-of-the-art literature on food waste in the schools, secondary schools, tertiary education centers, colleges, and
profit sector of HaFS can be used as a platform for setting the future universities; and (c) the health care segment, comprising hospitals,
research agenda. To address our research question, we have given elder care, retirement homes, and nursing homes. Based on these
equal emphasis to research profiling and content analysis of the classifications, we set our research boundary as all food service
 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861 3

establishments operating under the business segment of the hos- 1,267 articles, 1,209 were further excluded, as they pertained to
pitality sector, which represents the profit sector of HaFS. Based on areas of food waste that are not directly connected to food waste
this, the identified keywords for the search of studies to be generation in HaFS. The remaining 58 studies related directly to
reviewed were food waste, food loss, food service business, waste of food waste in the profit sector of HaFS, within the conceptual
food, catering, restaurants, cafeteria, coffee shop, snack bar, work- boundary described in Section 2, were taken forward. The search of
place canteen, inflight catering, airlines catering, and pub. the WoS database resulted in the identification of 1,380 studies, of
which 290 were items other than journal articles in English that
3. Methodology were eliminated. Of the 1,090 studies taken forward, 525 were
already listed in Scopus, so they were eliminated from the WoS list.
The current study adopted the SLR approach because it allows Next, 560 studies on topics such as anaerobic treatment of food
for presentation of the extant literature in the area in a compre- waste, valorization, and so on were eliminated. The remaining five
hensive and comprehensible manner (Tranfield et al., 2003). Many studies were taken forward. This resulted in a common pool of 63
recent studies have used this approach to review prior literature studies to be included in the review. The citation chaining search
(Kushwah et al., 2019; Sahu et al., 2020). The SLR methodology confirmed that no relevant studies had been missed. While
process of review has two distinct steps, namely, data extraction selecting studies, attention was also paid to the quality of the
and, later, research profiling (Behera et al., 2019; Seth et al., 2020). journals that published the articles, and gray literature was
The review panel for the study, consisting of two academics with excluded. The final count of studies taken forward for review was
knowledge about the food sector and four researchers, was 63, which were published between 1983 and March 2020.
constituted to help the researchers set the conceptual boundary,
arrive at a consensus after the independent coding, and to resolve 3.2. Research profiling
issues and disagreements if any arose.
The presentation of the research profile of the selected studies
3.1. Data extraction includes descriptive statistics such as timelines, establishments
investigated, geographic scope, research design, methods of data
The data extraction stage consisted of two main compo- analysis, variables examined, and the theoretical bases. The year-
nentsdsetting the research objectives and selecting the relevant wise classification of the publications suggests that fewer studies
studies. were published before 2017; after that, the research started gaining
momentum, and there was a tremendous upsurge (Fig. 1). The data
3.1.1. Setting the research questions presented in Fig. 2 shows that the selected publications came from
We divided our main research question into four parts for the a wide variety of journals.
purpose of analysis, and accordingly, the present SLR addressed the A variety of establishments, including restaurants, hotels,
following four research questions (RQs): workplace cafeterias, and inflight catering services, were individ-
RQ1. What is the research profile of the selected studies in terms ually examined by the scholars in the selected prior studies (e.g.,
of summary statistics? Charlebois et al., 2015; Sakaguchi et al., 2018, Fig. 3). However, some
RQ2. What are the different themes of the accumulated research studies investigated a variety of food services (e.g., Heikkila € et al.,
on food waste in the profit sector of HaFS? 2016), and we classified those studies as mixed (Fig. 3).
RQ3. What are the research gaps in the existing literature? The examination of the geographic scope of the prior studies
RQ4. How can research into food waste in the profit sector of suggests that the majority focused on a single country, with most
HaFS be taken forward? conducted in Western countries and only a few coming from
developing countries or multiple locations. The highest number of
3.1.2. Selection of the studies studies came from the United States (Fig. 4).
The study utilized two well-known databases, Scopus and Web The current study reviewed the selected studies from the
of Science (WoS), for the selection of studies to be reviewed. Both perspective of their research design as well as their methods of data
have been used frequently in previous SLR studies (Mongeon and analysis. Fig. 5 reveals that the researchers used mainly four types
Paul-Hus, 2016). The keywords searching the databases were of research designs.
searched for included the following: (“food wast*” OR “food loss*” In addition, the prior literature used a variety of commonly
OR “foodservice business” OR “wast* of food”) AND (“cater*” OR applied methods for data analysis, such as regression analysis
“restaurant*” OR “cafeteria*” OR “coffee shop*” OR “snack bar*” OR (linear, generalized linear models, logit, tobit); parametric tests
“workplace canteen*” OR “inflight cater*” OR “airline* cat*” OR (ANOVA, ANCOVA, Z-test, t-test); non-parametric tests (Wilcoxon
“pub*”). ranked sum, ManneWhitney, KruskaleWallis, chi-square); post
The studies found through the search protocol were evaluated hoc analysis; structural equation modeling; and thematic, content,
using the inclusion criteria of (a) studies on food waste generation and cluster analysis. Interestingly, only a few studies invoked any
in the profit sector of HaFS, (b) studies available on Scopus and WoS theoretical frameworks or theories to propose and test the research
through March 28, 2020, and (c) studies published in peer- model. The theories applied by the selected studies were the theory
reviewed journals in English only. The exclusion criteria were (a) of reasoned action (Hamerman et al., 2018), practice theory
studies related to other areas in the domain, such as waste to en- (Hennchen, 2019), the theory of planned behavior (Liao et al., 2018;
ergy, digestion-composting processes, anaerobic treatment and Lorenz et al., 2017), the valueeattitudeebehavior (VAB) theory
valorization of waste, and the characterization of hotel biowaste, to (Kim et al., 2019), and the norm-activation theory (Lorenz et al.,
name a few; (b) review articles, conceptual papers, proceedings, 2017). Additionally, Filimonau et al. (2020a) confirmed the useful-
guidelines, and discussion papers; and (c) duplicate studies. ness of the TPB- and TRA-based models in predicting pro-
The initial search in Scopus generated 2,008 studies. These environmental consumer behaviour in tourism and hospitality
included journal articles, conference papers, editorials, reviews, settings.
data papers, erratum, notes, short surveys, book chapters, books, Furthermore, the prior studies examined an interesting set of
and editorial letters in all languages. To begin with, 741 items other dependent variables to spotlight the key areas related to food waste
than journal articles in English were eliminated. Of the remaining generation by HaFS and the possible intervention to reduce the
4 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861

Fig. 1. Year of publication of the selected studies.

Fig. 2. Journals publishing the selected studies.

Note: Other journals that each published one study include African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure; Detritus; Economics Letters; Environmental Research, Engineering
and Management; Environmental Science and Pollution Research; International Journal of Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research; International Journal of Sustainable
Development and Planning; Journal Of Agriculture Food Systems And Community Development; Journal of Consumer Behaviour; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied;
Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management; Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism; Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services; Journal of Sustainable
Tourism; Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association; Public Health Nutrition; Science of the Total Environment; Sustainable Production and Consumption; Tourism
Management; Tourism Management Perspectives, and Waste Management & Research.

Fig. 3. Establishments examined by the selected studies.

 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861 5

Fig. 4. The geographic scope of the selected studies (based on a sample).

Note: Others include Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, India, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, and UAE (one study
each). One study used data from 33 developed countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

Shannon, 2005). Two researchers independently performed the

content analysis to uncover the thematic foci of the extant litera-
ture. After much debate and the seeking of opinions from two ac-
ademics with knowledge of the food sector, a consensus was
achieved on nine broad research themes: the causes of food waste,
waste hot spots, nudges, types of facilities, the handling of leftovers
and its impacts, stages of waste generation, demographic factors,
and the control of food waste. The researchers had agreed on most
of the themes, including hot spots, nudges, the handling of left-
overs, the impact of food waste, demographic factors, and the
control of food waste. However, there was some debate over the
classification of the causes of food waste, waste by type of estab-
lishment, and stages of waste generation due to the overlap in their
content. However, it was finally decided to present them separately
Fig. 5. The research designs used in the selected studies. to make the discussion more granular.

4.1. Causes of food waste

waste. Tables 1 and 2 present the key dependent variables and
independent variables (categorized into four groups each),
Understanding the causes of waste is important because effec-
respectively.
tive food waste management requires a deeper appreciation of the
volume and origin of waste (Ai and Zheng, 2019). In general, re-
4. Discussion searchers discussed in detail the food wasted during preparation,
serving, and consumption. Overproduction, serving issues, and
The study aimed to provide insights into the complex nature of plate waste were taken into consideration to ascertain related
the prior research on food waste in the profit sector of HaFS, rep- causes (e.g., Sebbane and Costa, 2018). The key causes were the
s, canteens, inflight catering,
resented by hotels, restaurants, cafe nature of the food menu, the production procedure, and the use of
pubs, and snack bars. To this end, the selected studies were pre-prepared versus whole food products (McAdams et al., 2019).
analyzed and synthesized using the content analysis method, a Dinnerware size was also linked with food waste, with establish-
common technique for analyzing qualitative data (Hsieh and ments using larger dinnerware and wasting more food (Wansink

Table 1
Dependent variables.

Dependent variables

Food waste generation Aggregate food waste

Plate waste
Leftovers
Food waste production and dish use
Food waste prevention/reduction Food waste prevention
Food waste reduction
Intention to prevent leftovers
Handling leftovers Waste disposal practices
Donation to staff and charity
Doggy bag participation
Perspectives Stakeholder perspectives
Managerial perspective
6 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861

Table 2
Independent variables examined by the selected studies.

Independent variables

Food service variables: Managerial-side Inventory management and checks

Cold storage temperature
Mitigation of waste
Supplier agreement and relationship
Management standpoint on food waste
Business models and concept
Resource availability
Menu design and specifications
Food provisioning
Competitors
Food sales revenue
Environmental sensitivity
Employee commitment and responsibility
Accuracy in prediction of the number of expected customers
Cooperation between hotel/restaurant staff and guests
Food service variables: Kitchen-side Overproduction
Size (entrees, plate, meal, portion, catering, restaurant)
Food prepared
Food temperature
Meal presentation
Cooking place
Serving style
Food type
Quality assurance
Food service variables: Leftover handling Liability concerns
Improper disposal
Leftover treatment
Distribution of surplus foods
Barriers to food donation
Food waste reduction variables: Interventions & nudges Awareness campaigns
Fiscal and legal instruments
Awareness of food waste and disposal
Financial incentive
Pricing strategy
Consumer variables: Food waste generation Consumer wastage
Past experience
Perception
Income level
Hunger
Intentions towards food waste
Attitudes and behaviour
Social desirability and situation
Customer expectation and satisfaction
Demographic factors
Eating habits
Dining out frequency
Purpose of the meal

and van Ittersum, 2013). Other factors identified as causes of food workplace canteens (Lorenz et al., 2017), whereas in the case of
waste included the skill levels of employees (Kasavan et al., 2019; airlines, a direct association between the flight length and food
McAdams et al., 2019), product development and procurement waste was observed (Blanca-Alcubilla et al., 2018).
€ et al., 2016), portion sizes (Berkowitz et al., 2016; Von
(Heikkila
Massow and McAdams, 2015), culture, inventory management ca-
pacity, and sensitivity to environmental issues (Lanfranchi and 4.2. Food waste hot spots
Giannetto, 2017).
With specific reference to restaurants, food waste generation Scholars examined whether certain food items were wasted
can be attributed to factors such as the type of ingredients used, the more than others, which are collectively referred to as food waste
dishes served, and the opening hours (Principato et al., 2018). For hot spots. The findings from the literature showed that food waste
instance, restaurants with meat-based menus that served both hot spots in restaurants and diners were salads and side dishes like
lunch and dinner generated more waste (Principato et al., 2018), pasta, potatoes, and rice (Silvennoinen et al., 2015). Findings also
while others reported losses due to overproduction and food give insight into the possibility of geographic and cultural dispar-
spoilage (Aamir et al., 2018). On the other hand, for buffet opera- ities in food waste hot spots. For instance, the waste hot spots in
tions, the primary causes were an inaccurate prediction of cus- specific restaurants in Canada were starches (Charlebois et al.,
tomers, a strict policy of not serving leftover food in the next meal, 2015), whereas hot spots in hotel restaurants in Malaysia were
serving the waste, and poor coordination of various functional fruits, vegetables, sauces, oils, and fats (Papargyropoulou et al.,
areas such as bookings, purchasing, and preparation with the op- 2016). In the case of inflight food service, the breakfast snack was
erations department (Pirani and Arafat, 2016; Silvennoinen et al., the meal hot spot of waste, and vegetables were the food items that
2019). Taste perception was a key cause of plate leftovers in contributed the most to waste (El-Mobaidh et al., 2006;
Thamagasorn and Pharino, 2019). Furthermore, most of the waste
 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861 7

was composed of the organic matter coming from menu-based norms. However, age and gender played a significant role in food
items (Blanca-Alcubilla et al., 2018). All in all, there were no waste, with females and younger diners leaving more food un-
prominent trends in food waste hot spots to trace them back to consumed (Collison and Colwill, 1987). On the other hand, Sebbane
cultural factors or geographic location, except that vegetables are and Costa (2018) found a discrepancy between the stated and
likely to be a universal hot spot. actual amounts of food wasted by individuals, with men more likely
to exhibit greater differences.
4.3. Stages of food waste generation On the issue of cultural and geographic differences, Katajajuuri
et al. (2014) observed that the factors influencing food waste,
Food waste generated at different stages may differ in compo- such as food consumption patterns related to ready-to-eat versus
sition and may be recycled accordingly (Ho and Chu, 2018). Due to freshly cooked food, varied according to the country, suggesting the
this, the diagnosis of waste generated at different stages is essential likely impact of cultural differences. Similarly, Wang et al. (2017)
for effective food waste management. The findings suggest that compared restaurant waste in China with Western countries and
waste occurred at different stages, from procurement to con- found that it was nearly the same as the average waste in Nordic
sumption. Scholars have adopted the practice of measuring in countries. The study also revealed that restaurant food waste was
terms of food waste in grams per meal at the stages of storage, higher in the case of tourists as compared to local residents, and
preparation, serving, and plate (Betz et al., 2015). Similarly, they there were also differences in restaurant food waste by the type of
have also classified food waste generation levels as kitchen waste city where the restaurant was located.
(related to stages of food preparation), serving loss waste, and plate
€ et al., 2016). The findings also indicate that food
leftovers (Heikkila 4.6. Impact of food waste
waste occurring at the production stage is of two types: avoidable
and unavoidable (McAdams et al., 2019). With regard to serving Food-related waste has serious implications in terms of sus-
waste, its cause in restaurants has been shown to be related to the tainability and environmental issues. Researchers have even called
establishment's adherence to various quality assurance practices food waste the unsustainability hot spot (Eriksson et al., 2018). The
and standards (McAdams et al., 2019). For example, the lowest per key concerns in this context include climate change (Kallbekken
customer food waste was generated in a limited-service restaurant and Sælen, 2013), monetary losses (Hennchen, 2019), food secu-
with fewer standardization and quality control procedures rity (Wang et al., 2017), and the overall economic impact of such
(McAdams et al., 2019). waste (Heikkil€a et al., 2016). These concerns are confirmed by es-
timates revealing that waste food constitutes an economic loss of
4.4. Food waste by the type of establishment 23% of food purchased (Papargyropoulou et al., 2019). Similarly, the
ecological impact of such waste in HORECA in China was found to
Scholars have delved deeply into the differences in the food be nearly twice the size of its arable land (Wang et al., 2018). The
waste generated by different types of HaFS establishments and concerns become even more confounding due to the fact that even
concluded that it is related to the practices, conditions, or charac- though food service professionals were aware of the implications in
teristics of the establishment under consideration. Some of these terms of monetary losses and showed a willingness to reduce
studies assessed the difference in food waste by considering four waste, customer satisfaction, rather than waste mitigation, was
common restaurant types, namely, quick-service, limited-service, their top priority (Hennchen, 2019).
casual dining, and fine dining (e.g., McAdams et al., 2019; Tata no
et al., 2017). In general, casual dining restaurants have greater 4.7. “Nudges” to reduce food waste
plate waste volume than fine dining restaurants, which have
greater food waste per customer. However, “whole” products are Nudges may be described as the signals and reminders sent to
consumed in larger quantities (McAdams et al., 2019). Along these make the concerned stakeholders aware of their part in waste
same lines, the amount of waste per restaurant was found to be reduction. Nudges and other interventions have been found to be
highest for the high-end restaurants, followed by medium- and useful in decreasing food waste in cafeterias, canteens, and res-
low-end ones (Aamir et al., 2018). Per-employee food waste was taurants (Dolnicar et al., 2020; Kallbekken and Sælen, 2013; Sto €ckli
found to be lower in larger restaurants (Tat
ano et al., 2017). Another et al., 2018). These interventions could be in the form of specific
study found that the purpose of the meal and the business model no et al., 2017),
non-intrusive ‘nudges’ like reducing plate size (Tata
also impacted the amount of waste (Katajajuuri et al., 2014). For removing side plates (Camilleri-Fenech et al., 2020), providing so-
instance, business banquets and friends’ parties in large or cial cues such as small posters to create awareness (Kallbekken and
medium-sized restaurants led to more waste when compared to Sælen, 2013), offering to pack leftovers (Hamerman et al., 2018),
working and private meals in smaller restaurants or snack bars and giving informational and normative prompts through place
(Wang et al., 2017). Similarly, waste constituted approximately 30% €ckli et al., 2018).
cards on tables (Sto
of the food input in energy terms for hotels, whereas it was only 3% The effectiveness of these nudges was different for different
for restaurant complexes (Youngs et al., 1983). Furthermore, food establishments. For instance, in restaurants, reduced plate size was
wasted per portion also varied depending on the type of estab- more effective than social cues given through posters, and there
lishment, with approximately 50 g/portion in the case of canteens were no adverse implications for customer satisfaction (Kallbekken
and 190 g/portion for restaurants (Malefors et al., 2019). and Sælen, 2013). In the case of all-you-can-eat food services,
reduced plate size was also effective, resulting in a decrease of as
4.5. Demographic factors and food waste much as 30% in plate waste (Ravandi and Jovanovic, 2019). Differ-
ently, messages related to the environment had a positive impact
The demographic variables of age, gender, and geographic on consumers’ attitudes toward the reduction of such waste in
location were found to be associated with the causes and preven- buffet-style restaurants (Chen and Jai, 2018).
tion of food waste. For instance, Hamerman et al. (2018) suggested
that gender differences were not significant with respect to the 4.8. Handling of leftovers
willingness of individuals to get leftovers packaged due to the po-
tential embarrassment or feelings that it was counter to social Reuse and recycling of food waste are considered optimal
8 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861

approaches to handling waste, with dumping and energy produc- (Filimonau et al., 2019b) as are free training programs by the gov-
tion being the last resort (Betz et al., 2015). Packing leftovers for ernment to decrease kitchen waste (Filimonau et al., 2020c). The
taking away or the donation of unconsumed food are standard government's role is all the more crucial because despite knowing
approaches for handling consumable waste (Mirosa et al., 2018; that a comprehensive approach to effective waste reduction re-
Pirani and Arafat, 2016). However, it is not a simple decision, quires various innovative actions, food service establishments tend
particularly in restaurant dining. In fact, taking leftovers away as to only implement innovations that are driven by cost-saving
“doggy bags” is the net outcome of various barriers and benefits criteria (Martin-Rios et al., 2018). Furthermore, proper quantifica-
that impact the related consumer behavior (Mirosa et al., 2018). The tion can also serve as a benchmark for food waste prevention in
obstacles related to doggy bags differ from individual to individual various food service establishments. For instance, automated
and arise from both conveniences as well as factors related to social quantification tools can serve as a cost-efficient way of reducing
stigma. For instance, shame and trying to save face act as barriers, food waste in the case of establishments reporting a very high
negatively affecting the intentions to take away leftovers (Dagiliu  te_ volume of waste (Eriksson et al., 2019).
and Musteikyte, _ 2019; Liao et al., 2018). Similarly, situational social
factors also influence diners' intentions to get the leftovers packed 5. Research gaps and implications
for taking home (Hamerman et al., 2018). For example, when cus-
tomers dine with someone they want to make a good impression Our systematic review of the prior literature provided us a bird's
on, they might not carry leftovers home because it might be eye view into the varied contours and contributions of the extant
considered a violation of social norms (Hamerman et al., 2018; findings. It also enabled us to identify several gaps in the prior
Sirieix et al., 2017). At the same time, practical and moral reasons findings. These gaps serve as the basis for proposing a forward-
such as the fitness of leftovers for consumption and concern for the looking research agenda to motivate academic research and pre-
environment also impact diners’ intentions to take them sent actionable implications for managers and policy makers.
(Hamerman et al., 2018). Furthermore, a paradoxical behavior of
consumers has been observed in this context, where on the one 5.1. Research gaps
hand, personal norms regarding food waste cause guilt over leaving
leftovers behind, and on the other hand, social norms create pres- 5.1.1. Data-related gaps
sure to avoid asking for a doggy bag (Sirieix et al., 2017). A total of five main gaps were identified, including problems
Apart from being taken by the diners, leftovers can be reused in related to generalizability, research design, self-reports and
a variety of other ways, such as distributing them among staff voluntary surveys, sample sizes and representativeness, and data
members and/or donating them to charity (Amato and Musella, collection issues.
2017; Bharucha, 2018). However, some restaurants avoid food do-
nations as they fear the legal liability arising out of someone a) Generalizability problems: The selected studies covered a
complaining after consuming donated food (Sakaguchi et al., 2018). wide variety of geographic locations, food service establish-
In fact, due to this fear, some hotel chains donate only untouched ments, and contexts. This has enriched the literature in a
leftovers to charity (Pirani and Arafat, 2016). In this regard, au- specific manner, but at the same time, such a diversity of
thorities can encourage restaurants to donate food by providing contexts has also raised issues about the generalizability of
certain tax incentives (Filimonau et al., 2020b). But leftovers that study findings to other contexts (e.g., Betz et al., 2015; Sto€ckli
are unfit for consumption can still be used, and are, for composting et al., 2018).
or feeding livestock (Okumus, 2020; Otten et al., 2018). However, in b) Research design issues: Many of the selected studies utilized
airline catering, even sealed post-flight food is just disposed of a qualitative research design to examine food waste (e.g.,
along with other food waste (Sambo and Hlengwa, 2018). Bharucha, 2018). The qualitative design suffers from inherent
problems that can adversely affect research outcomes. These
4.9. Food waste control practices problems include the formulation of research questions,
ethical considerations, contextual issues, and non-numerical
There exists some level of consciousness to avoid food waste and data analysis leading to questions about the rigor of the re-
about the use of waste mitigation practices at restaurants and other sults (e.g., Beaulieu and Estalella, 2012; Gelling, 2011; Nye
HaFS establishments. For instance, different types of restaurants are et al., 2016). Similarly, some studies employed experiment-
quite aware of the need to prevent food waste as it leads to financial based designs that were conducted in hypothetical sce-
benefits arising from savings in food costs (McAdams et al., 2019). narios rather than in real-world settings, thereby imposing a
Keeping this in mind, most restaurants try to manage waste by limitation on the findings (Hamerman et al., 2018).
ensuring proper chopping and trimming of vegetables and meats, c) Self-reports, voluntary surveys, and interviews: The use of
effective purchase planning, and demand forecasting (Aamir et al., semi-structured interviews (e.g., McAdams et al., 2019) and
2018; Bharucha, 2018; Principato et al., 2018). Competent and cross-sectional studies (e.g., Sebbane and Costa, 2018) were
skilled staff and the participatory approach of involving employees common in the literature. These methods have inherent
in formulating and implementing control measures are also quite weaknesses, such as participants in self-reported surveys
useful in reducing waste (Heikkila € et al., 2016; Strotmann et al., remaining guarded in their responses and not always giving
2017). factual replies (e.g., Bharucha, 2018; Liao et al., 2018). Simi-
The role of government is also considered significant in con- larly, the problem of selection bias could lead to bias in
trolling food waste. For instance, Wang et al. (2017) highlighted the collected responses (e.g., Hamerman et al., 2018; McAdams
active steps taken by the government in Beijing to reduce such et al., 2019).
waste, including running campaigns like “Clean Your Plate.” In the d) Data collection issues: Many of the selected studies relied
context of the HORECA industry, inclusive legislative frameworks on small sample sizes to collect data (Betz et al., 2015; Chen
and campaigns to create awareness, along with fiscal incentives, and Jai, 2018; Sto€ ckli et al., 2018). The use of smaller sample
have had a noticeable impact on waste reduction (Chalak et al., sizes in relation to the size of the target population raises
2018). Furthermore, targeted policy interventions to increase issues related to the representativeness of the sample and,
corporate and consumer commitment are also important thus, the reliability of the findings.
 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861 9

5.1.2. Gaps related to analysis based approach to collecting data from food service estab-
A total of five main gaps were identified, and these include the lishments. Although the findings were interesting and useful,
narrow focus of prior studies, underestimation of the quantity of most of the studies did not utilize any theory or theoretical
waste, limited geographic scope, limited breadth of analysis in framework. Thus, they lacked the theoretical underpinnings
terms of mediating and moderating variables, and lack of theoret- that would make them much more useful for guiding further
ical frameworks. studies. Only a few of the studies from the selected pool
utilized some kind of theory. Given the fact that food waste
a) The narrow focus of prior studies: The examined studies generation and prevention are the manifestations of con-
took a narrow focus on the issues related to food waste (e.g., sumer behavior, this area can benefit from the use of
Katajajuuri et al., 2014; Sebbane and Costa, 2018). For different behavioral theories and frameworks.
instance, Kallbekken and Sælen (2013) discussed nudges for
reducing waste and their implementation, but they did not 5.2. Potential research areas
test the implementation of the two proposed nudg-
esdinformation and reduced plate sizedtogether. Testing The research gaps identified by us serve as the basis for rec-
the impact of the simultaneous implementation of both ommending potential areas where future researchers can
these nudges could have improved the understanding of the contribute to theory and practice, as discussed in upcoming sec-
practitioners since they would prefer to address food waste tions. The key suggestions are related to testing different geogra-
through a multipronged strategy. Similarly, many studies phies and food service establishments, advances in quantification
discussed prompting food saving behavior, but the underly- methods to measure food waste, utilization of diverse research
ing psychology, as well as the long-term effects of informa- methods and variables, deeper diagnoses of interventions and
tive and normative prompts, were not well-examined (e.g., nudges to create awareness about food waste, improved theoretical
Sto€ckli et al., 2018). Moreover, consideration was given to perspectives, and the inclusion of online food delivery (OFD) plat-
only a small number of variables relating to food waste and forms in food waste research.
waste hot spots, and as a result, the real-life validity and
usefulness of the findings are severely restricted. 5.2.1. Testing different geographies and food service establishments
b) Underestimation of the quantity of waste: There are varied The generalizability of findings of the prior studies was a major
issues related to how the generated waste is quantified. This concern. To address this gap, scholars can undertake comparative
is a serious issue, as the lack of proper quantification can lead and replication studies by testing the existing research models in
to an incorrect assessment of waste (Wang et al., 2017). For different contexts. For example, a model developed and tested in
instance, weighing plate waste at the individual level in busy the context of restaurants can also be examined for cafeterias and
dining establishments can be quite misleading. Since accu- workplace canteens. Similarly, the model tested in the context of a
rate quantification of waste is a key aspect for identifying developed country can be suitably modified and tested in a
waste hot spots and initiating waste prevention measures, developing economy. These comparative and replication studies
the issue of determining the right quantity of waste repre- can also test the efficacy of efforts to reduce waste in food service
sents a key concern for research in the area. establishments. For instance, the model proposed by Sebbane and
c) Limited geographic scope: The reviewed literature largely Costa (2018) can be replicated, compared, and tested in different
focused on developed or industrialized countries, as pre- countries to capture the impact of different cultural and policy-
sented in Fig. 4, with very few studies conducted in emerging related factors on food waste.
countries, as argued by Wang et al. (2018). This represents a
gap in the research because food waste is a grave challenge in 5.2.2. Advances in quantification methods to measure food waste
developing countries that are battling with rising population We recommend that researchers should focus on aggregate
numbers, urbanization, and low incomes. This finding re- waste data collection and utilize more comprehensive methods of
flects the need for more food waste studies in developing food waste quantification. Thus, methods like material flow anal-
countries. ysis (MFA), which measures the percentage of food waste generated
d) The limited breadth of analysis in terms of mediating and at different levels of the catering process (Pirani and Arafat, 2016),
moderating variables: Although it has been contended that may be used. Furthermore, policy efforts should also be directed at
food waste from out-of-home dining is dependent on per- determining benchmarks for waste quantification so that there can
sonal characteristics, social settings, and situational variables be standardization in capturing the food waste data. This would
(Betz et al., 2015), the majority of the prior studies have not also make it easier for future researchers to conduct comparative
examined the mediating or moderating influences of such studies across various food service establishments. Extended
factors. For instance, the type and time of a meal can literature has also underscored the need for better quantification of
potentially mediate the association between the type of food waste as the first step toward waste reduction (Corrado and
restaurant and food waste generation, but it has not been Sala, 2018). Scholars can produce more robust results and can
investigated. Limited studies have considered factors that develop more effective food waste reduction strategies by
may have a moderating influence on waste reduction capturing food waste at various stages, such as growing, processing,
behavior. For instance, Kim and Hall (2019) confirmed the production, and consumption, as suggested by Betz et al. (2015).
moderating influence of dining expenses on the association
of attitude with intentions to reduce waste. But there is a 5.2.3. Utilization of diverse research methods and variables
noticeable gap in terms of considering the moderating effects We recommend that scholars should use data sets on food
of demographic variables such as age, gender, and country waste, where available, through government or other authorized
despite acknowledgment of their influence on food waste data sources for analysis rather than collecting food waste data
generation or prevention behavior (e.g., Hamerman et al., from randomly selected respondents with self-reporting in-
2018; Silvennoinen et al., 2015). struments. In this way, the data would not be collected only with
e) Lack of theoretical frameworks: Most of the selected respect to kitchen waste or only from managers but also from the
studies were largely based on the qualitative and survey- kitchen staff, as discussed by Principato et al. (2018) and
10 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861

Silvennoinen et al. (2015). Self-reported surveys should be largely extended to cover OFD platforms, including food delivery apps
used to investigate and understand the behavioral aspects of diners (FDAs) that provide the facility of ordering food for delivery from a
and staff at food service establishments (Lorenz and Langen, 2018). variety of food service establishments. Understanding the behavior
Furthermore, scholars should approach food waste from a of consumers in over-ordering the much-discounted food from
multidisciplinary point of view and conduct mixed-method these apps would be quite interesting.
research to present a complete picture of food waste in the area.
For example, investigations can focus on the causes, composition, 5.3. Theme-based research questions
nutritional and attitudinal aspects, ecological implications, eco-
nomic consequences, and the efficacy of interventions in reducing In addition to the recommendations to address the visible gaps
food waste in different establishments. This is in consonance with in the extant literature, the present SLR identified certain research
the prior findings, which revealed that food waste quantity, as well questions related to the nine themes that future researchers should
as its composition, varies with the type of business model in the contemplate investigating to enrich the literature in this area
case of restaurants (e.g., Tatano et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2017). (Table 3).
Moreover, newer variables such as food choices, health-related
food preferences, food safety concerns, hygiene consciousness, 5.4. Implications for practice
and various factors directly related to food service (Lorenz et al.,
2017), as well as measures of satiety (Sebbane and Costa, 2018), Our study offers seven implications for practice based on a
should also be examined in detail. critical review of the literature and the identified gaps. First, we
recommend that policymakers should build a central body/data
5.2.4. Deeper diagnoses of interventions and nudges to create bank that is responsible for the logging and management of food
awareness about food waste waste data. It should be made mandatory for all food service es-
We recommend that scholars should focus on the development tablishments to enter their food waste data at a specified interval.
and testing of different interventions and nudges to reduce waste. Such a data bank could help policy makers create a ready resource
In consonance with prior extended literature (e.g., Mirosa et al., for firms striving to mitigate food waste at their establishments. To
2016), we suggest that the following strategies and nudges make such an initiative viable and to ensure privacy and security,
should be evaluated by future researchers: pre-portioning dishes, the data could be made available at a cost after due encryption and
removing fixed-plate choices and self-service, keeping dishes as screening of names.
testers for sampling before ordering, keeping self-pack boxes on Second, a chain of food banks can be established by the gov-
each table to encourage doggy bags, removing the fixed entry fee, ernment and auctioned to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
offering pay by weight pricing of food, and reducing the number of for management at the city level. All food service establishments
food choices. should be required to mandatorily take membership in food banks
Scholars should also test the efficacy of interventions such as by paying a fee, which could be made tax deductible. This would
awareness campaigns, normative nudges, guerrilla actions, and enable businesses to save the costs they would have incurred in
possible governmental initiatives being used simultaneously. Such managing leftovers. Clear processes should be laid down to protect
investigations can provide rich insights for developing a multi- each party from any arising liability. This should help overcome the
pronged strategy to mitigate waste in HaFS. Furthermore, future resistance shown by food service establishments to donating left-
studies should compare interventions to highlight the effectiveness overs, as discussed by Aamir et al. (2018) and Pirani and Arafat
of certain nudges over others. Additionally, researchers should (2016).
evaluate the costs and benefits of various food waste reduction Third, to overcome the challenges associated with donating
nudges to provide useful inputs to food service managers. More edible leftovers to charity (e.g., Hamerman et al., 2018), govern-
information on the cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce ments can formalize the food donation process through NGOs by
food waste and loss could be very useful (Read et al., 2020). involving them in running leftover meal services. Furthermore,
NGOs can be channelized to act as the collecting and processing
5.2.5. Improved theoretical perspectives body for the disposal of inconsumable leftovers and other wastes
To overcome the paucity of theory-driven research in the through composting and landfill. This could be particularly useful
domain, we recommend that future studies should utilize newer in the case of small food service establishments that do not recycle
theories to study food waste related behavior and issues. For food waste due to cost, the limited quantity of waste, and less space
example, theories like social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, (Michalec et al., 2018). The government can also involve NGOs in
2004) and socialecognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) could be uti- awareness campaigns to reduce food waste.
lized for these purposes. Although some studies have confirmed the Fourth, food service establishments can introduce a “heroes of
association between food waste reduction intentions and attitudes the month” concept where the pictures of all diners who leave no
of consumers (Kim and Hall, 2019), there continues to be a dearth of leftovers on their plate are displayed, and incentives, like free
behavioral studies in the area, particularly those dealing with at- dinner with the family, can be offered to one hero through a lucky
titudes and beliefs related to the use of doggy bags. Furthermore, draw every two months or so. Similarly, a “saver of the day” badge
future scholars can also contemplate extending the well- could be bestowed on the staff member who makes a special effort
researched consumer behavior theories to explain food waste by to reduce food waste by either engaging with the diners to pack
consumers as well as food services establishments. For instance, leftovers or by being skilled in the handling service or in preparing
the innovation resistance theory (Ram and Sheth, 1989) can be the meal. These suggestions are consistent with the argument
applied to examine the resistance of consumers to take away left- found in the literature demonstrating that the involvement of
overs in doggy bags. kitchen and serving staff can contribute to reducing food waste
generation (Betz et al., 2015; Strotmann et al., 2017).
5.2.6. Inclusion of online food delivery (OFD) platforms in food Fifth, the literature also suggests that buffet meals generate high
waste research food waste. Thus, food service establishments should try to pro-
Opening a new and more contemporary avenue for research, we mote a  la carte service (e.g., Pirani and Arafat, 2016) by offering
recommend that the study of food waste behavior in restaurants be certain consumer freebies, such as free dessert when a main course
 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861 11

Table 3
Setting a future research agenda.

Thematic Foci Description Potential Research Questions (RQs)

Causes of food Types of kitchen and consumer food waste In what way can the knowledge of the causes of food waste help to reduce
waste food waste?
Does the kitchen food waste vary with the type of meal, the physical
layout, the weather, and mealtime?
Does understanding the causes of food waste help to better illustrate the
behavioral manifestations of kitchen staff and diners?
Food waste hot Food types that are generally among leftovers Is it worthwhile to expend effort in undertaking composition analysis of
spots the waste collected?
Can the knowledge of food waste hot spots aid in developing a better
menu and portion size?
Is there a cultural aspect that influences the kind of food waste hot spots
in different countries or the hot spots that are influenced by the type of
food service establishment?
Stages of food Waste at different levels, from procurement to consumption Does waste at one level of the process have a multiplier effect on the
waste waste at the other levels?
generation Given the expense of cold storage facilities, what are the issues in using
local produce delivered fresh every day?
What would be the outcome of offering a  la carte service instead of buffet-
style meals in hotels and restaurants in terms of lost business, loss due to
food waste, and inaccurate prediction of the number of diners?
Food waste by the The type and amount of waste generated is related to the business model, Should generic models be developed for demand forecasting based on the
type of practices, conditions, and the characteristics of different types of food type of establishment (e.g., casual restaurant, fine dining restaurant, and
establishment service establishments so on)?
Is waste per customer and employee also related to the type of
establishment, or is the variation observable only in aggregate waste?
Is the variation in food waste in different types of restaurants related to
menu choices, the profile of the diners, and the level of training of the
kitchen staff?
Demographic Linkage of food waste quantity and composition with demographic factors Does the composition of food waste change with age and gender?
factors and Should different menus be developed based on demographic factors to
food waste reduce food waste?
What are the linkages between culture and the propensity to waste food?
Can Hofstede's cultural dimensions be explored in connection with food
waste behavior?
Impact of food Implications of food waste in terms of sustainability and environmental What is the level of awareness among consumers about the link between
waste issues food waste and nutritional loss?
Are staff and consumers aware of the impact of food loss on food security?
“Nudges” to Interventions introduced by food service establishments and government to Can the same nudges be introduced at all HaFS establishments to reduce
reduce food reduce food waste food waste?
waste What is the efficacy of awareness campaigns in reducing food waste at
different food service establishments?
Is the role of government intervention in the form of fiscal and legal
measures desirable from the perspective of food service establishments
and consumers?
Handling of Utilizing edible food waste through doggy bags and donations. Can the behavior of the consumer in the context of doggy bags be better
leftovers explained through behavioral theories other than the theory of planned
behavior?
Do financial incentives and freebies actually work to promote the
acceptance of doggy bags?
What has been the experience of NGOs running food banks for donating
edible leftovers to charity?
What are the issues in donating food to charity?
Is the leftover meal service a viable option for food service establishments
to utilize edible leftovers?
Food waste Food waste prevention and waste management methods Do consumers respond negatively to the reduction in plate size in
control restaurants as a food waste prevention method?
practices Would making composting mandatory lead to higher rates of disposal of
edible leftovers due to convenience?

is ordered or discounts on future meals (e.g., Bharucha, 2018). The waste reduction methods from a government authority. A financial
savings from the amount of food left unconsumed should penalty should be imposed on establishments failing to check the
compensate for the freebies. Moreover, given that freebies in the certification of their staff at the time of their employment. This is in
form of food items may lead to concerns, such as about obesity or keeping with the emphasis that earlier scholars put on the
health issues, gifts could also be in the form of a gym membership importance of the regulatory role that government can play in food
or some other health program, where feasible. waste reduction (Chalak et al., 2018; Filimonau et al., 2020c) and
Sixth, all food service establishments should be made respon- the importance of training employees (Go €ssling et al., 2011; Marx-
sible for training their kitchen and serving staff in different food Pienaar et al., 2020).
waste reduction methods and approaches. At the time of joining, all Finally, the gaps identified in the literature also serve as the
staff members should be required to have formal certification in basis for managerial implications, as summarized in Table 4.
12 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861

Table 4
Research gaps and managerial implications.

Research gaps Managerial Implications

Data-related issues (e.g., sample size, representativeness, and research The available research findings are not robust and generalizable, so practitioners need to
design) substantiate the implications with more inputs
Underestimation of the quantity of food waste Food service businesses will benefit from having standardized measures for waste
quantification and reporting at the employee, customer, and aggregate levels
Lack of comprehensive and simultaneous testing of various nudges and Knowing the kind of nudges and interventions that are effective in tandem for their type of
interventions to reduce food waste at both the staff and consumer levels establishment can help managers increase the efficacy of decisions related to the choice of
nudges and interventions
A limited number of behavioral variables and food waste hot spots have been Knowledge about satiety, food choices, health-related food preferences, personal factors,
explored and the variety of food waste hot spots can help managers in developing menus more
effectively and determining portion sizes to reduce food waste
Less focus on demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, income, and culture) The information related to demographic variables can aid managers in determining portion
size, the kind of nudges to be used, and waste management in terms of food donations,
landfills, and composting

6. Framework development The key stakeholders in the framework are managers, staff, and
diners. In our framework, these three stakeholders are posited to be
The present study utilizes the insights obtained from the SLR to the beginning point of both food waste generation and reduction
propose a framework that provides a multidimensional view on efforts. Managers are involved at the procurement level, the staff at
food waste and food loss in the profit sector of HaFS (Fig. 6). The the preparation and serving levels, and the diners at the consumption
objective of the framework is to provide an overview of all the level of the food supply chain. We propose that each of these three
stakeholders related to waste generation/reduction at any food stakeholders contributes to food waste generation and reduction
service establishment representing the ecosystem of HaFS food through (a) functional decisions, and (b) behavioral manifestations.
waste. The framework is named the “food waste and food loss in the Further, the variables associated with these three stakeholders are the
HaFS” model (FWFLH model). The FWFLH provides a 360-degree independent variables (antecedents) in our framework and represent
view of food waste in the profit sector of HaFS, spanning procure- the point of data collection. An indicative set of variables and research
ment of ingredients to disposal of edible and inedible food waste. design that can be used by future researchers to measure the food
Five stakeholders, namely, managers, staff, diners (consumers), waste related behavior of managers, staff, and diners is presented in
government, and NGOs, form the core of FWFLH. Table 5. It is important to note here that future researchers can utilize

Fig. 6. Framework for food waste and food loss in HaFS (FWFLH model).
 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861 13

the entire framework or its parts for their studies, depending on the variations in plate waste are due to differences in the calorie re-
research objectives they are pursuing. quirements and appetites of male and female diners (Betz et al.,
In addition to the variables presented in Table 5, the influence of 2015; Hamerman et al., 2018).
moderating and control variables should also be considered by Furthermore, we suggest that future research test the frame-
future researchers. In this context, researchers should collect work by controlling for variations coming from other factors such
various demographic details, such as age, gender, income, and ed- as the type of restaurant (fine dining, casual dining, quick-service,
ucation level of all three types of respondents (managers, staff, and or limited-service) and meal (breakfast, lunch, and so on). Differ-
diners). These variables can be utilized as moderators to measure ences in food waste generation based on the type of restaurant, its
the effects of individual differences in varied functional and location, meal served, and the type of meal have been noted by
behavioral factors in association with food waste generation/ prior researchers (e.g., McAdams et al., 2019; Tat
ano et al., 2017).
reduction. The influence of demographic factors is important, as Testing the framework with and without these controls may prove
revealed by prior research. For instance, it has been revealed that to be insightful.

Table 5
Food waste generation and reduction.

Stakeholder Manifestation Variables Research Design Theoretical Underpinnings Authors

Managers Functional Frequency and methods of forecasting In-depth interviews Questionnaire Principato et al. (2018);
ingredients required for cooking survey Filimonau et al. (2019a);
Filimonau et al. (2020b)
Purchase planning, storage and supplier Bharucha (2018);
agreements Charlebois et al. (2015)
Menu design and specifications Principato et al. (2018)
Method of estimation of the number of Pirani and Arafat (2016)
expected customers
Behavioral Increasing staff commitment and Open-ended essay Hersey-Blanchard Situational Strotmann et al. (2017)
involvement Leadership theory (Hersey
and Blanchard, 2013)
Transactional contingent
reward leadership (Podsakoff
et al., 1982)
Transformational leadership
(Bass, 1985).
Ensuring cooperation between staff and the Pirani and Arafat (2016)
guests

Staff Functional Frequency of over-production Semi-structured interviews with Aamir et al. (2018)
(Kitchen) staff
In-depth interviews with managers
Mishandling of food items Observation Bharucha (2018)
Discarding dish due to bad taste, errors in Okumus (2020);
preparation and/or lack of balance in Papargyropoulou et al.
ingredients (2016)
Spoilage due to bulk purchase of ingredients Aamir et al. (2018);
or lack of proper cold storage facility Bharucha (2018);
Principato et al. (2018)
Functional Spillage of a dish/drink due to slack serving Close-ended questionnaire survey Silvennoinen et al. (2015);
(Serving) Inconsistency in portion size/sloppy meal with diners on multiple days, Betz et al. (2015)
presentation choosing different mealtimes
Observation
Behavioral Dissatisfaction In-depth interviews with self, peers Herzberg two-factor theory Strotmann et al. (2017);
Low motivation and supervisors (Herzberg, 1971) Marx-Pienaar et al. (2020)
Carelessness Skinner's reinforcement
Lack of awareness about food waste theory (Skinner, 1974)
Lack of commitment Vroom's expectancy theory
(Vroom, 1964)

Diners Functional Large portion size Close-ended questionnaire survey Betz et al., 2015; Charlebois
with diners on multiple days, et al. (2015)
choosing different mealtimes
Observation
Poor quality of food Lorenz et al. (2017)
Unwillingness to take leftovers home as Hamerman et al. (2018)
doggy bags due to social norms
Unwillingness to take leftovers home as Liao et al. (2018); Mirosa
doggy bags due to the lack of suitability of the et al. (2018); Sirieix et al.
leftover for future consumption (2017).
Behavioral Intentions towards food waste Cross-sectional survey Innovation resistance theory Chen and Jai (2018)
(Ram and Sheth, 1989)
Theory of planned behavior
(Ajzen, 1985)
Behavioral reasoning theory
(Westaby, 2005)
Attitude towards food waste Lorenz et al. (2017); Sirieix
et al. (2017)
14 A. Dhir et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 270 (2020) 122861

The actions of managers, staff, and diners have an impact on the waste in the profit sector of HaFS and address RQ1, the research profile
dependent variables in our framework: (a) food waste generation of the selected studies was presented through the descriptive statis-
and (b) food waste reduction. Food waste is generated at all three tics on various aspects of the pool of publications. This included the
levels, from procurement to consumption. It can be measured as presentation of the yearly trend of the publications, the journals
the aggregate of the total waste generated. The prior literature has publishing research in the food service field that were examined, the
considered the aggregate waste generated as one of the important geographic scope of the studies, the research designs used, methods
dependent variables (McAdams et al., 2019). Some studies have also of data analysis, independent and dependent variables, and theories
measured per customer as well as per employee waste (e.g., Tata no employed. A content analysis of the findings from the previous liter-
et al., 2017). Researchers utilizing this framework may collect and ature resulted in the identification of nine distinct research themes,
weigh waste for any one of the measures, meaning, for example, per which addressed RQ2. Critically evaluating the research profile and
customer or employee. Where such intensive collection is not thematic foci of the selected studies answered RQ3 by uncovering the
possible, buckets could be placed for aggregate waste collection research gaps in the extant knowledge. RQ4 was addressed by pre-
from three sources: kitchen, serving, and plate. With regard to senting different actionable recommendations for research and pro-
waste reduction, some scholars have developed various in- posing a framework to investigate the multidimensional nature of
terventions and nudges that can motivate managers, staff, and food waste in the profit sector of HaFS.
diners to consciously reduce food waste (e.g., Hamerman et al.,
2018; Heikkila € et al., 2016; Liao et al., 2018). Researchers can 7.1. Limitations of the study
conduct a longitudinal study by introducing some combination of
interventions such as posters and reduced plate size and measure The current study suffers from three limitations: First, the
the pre- and post-intervention waste generated to determine the search protocol and the different inclusion and exclusion criteria
efficacy of multiple interventions introduced together. were designed based on an extensive understanding of the area and
The other two stakeholders that form a part of the framework subject. However, it is possible that the keywords used might not
are government and NGOs. Governments can intervene to reduce have been exhaustive, leading to the possibility of some relevant
the waste generated at various levels, while NGOs can play a role in studies being left out. Second, the selection of the relevant studies
leftover reuse and disposal, such as with donation or composting. was confined only to peer-reviewed journal articles published in
The roles of these two stakeholders can also be investigated by English. This could have led to the exclusion of relevant studies
future researchers. In the case of government-related interventions, published in other languages and from other sources (such as
researchers can include questions in staff interviews as well as conferences, reports, and reviews). Third, the scope of the present
diner surveys to collect their views on the impact of government- study was limited to the profit sector of HaFS that deals with out-of-
run public awareness campaigns (Chalak et al., 2018; Wang et al., home dining, and thus, the current study ignored a fast-growing
2017) and fiscal incentives such as tax savings for food donations segment that orders food from restaurants for consumption at
(Chalak et al., 2018; Filimonau et al., 2019b). Additionally, re- home through the use of delivery apps.
searchers can also examine the efficacy of other government in-
terventions such as the imposition of a penalty on food service CRediT authorship contribution statement
establishments for failing to implement proper food waste pre-
vention and management processes, compulsory use of the speci- Amandeep Dhir: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal
fied government portal for the logging of food waste data, and the analysis, Investigation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review &
introduction of mandatory food waste certification for managers editing. Shalini Talwar: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investiga-
and staff. In the context of the role of NGOs in the disposal of food tion, Writing - original draft. Puneet Kaur: Methodology, Formal
waste, exploratory studies on leftover meal services, food banks, analysis, Investigation, Supervision, Writing - review & editing.
and the allotment of composting contracts can be conducted. Areej Malibari: Validation, Writing - review & editing, Supervision,
Project administration.
7. Conclusion
Declaration of competing interest
The present study adopted the SLR methodology to distill, sift,
review, and integrate extant research on food waste in the profit The authors declare that they have no known competing
sector of HaFS. It curated the findings and research context of the financial interests or personal relationships that could have
previous literature to provide a platform for advancing further appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
studies in the area, with specific reference to the behavioral aspects
that remain least understood, as revealed by Sakaguchi et al. (2018). Acknowledgments
The SLR also offered several useful research- and practice-related
inferences. This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research
The results presented in this article are based on an SLR conducted at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-
on March 28, 2020, of published studies that met this study's scope track Research Funding Program.
and excluding studies that did not fit that scope. The study utilized a
standard protocol and key digital databases (Scopus and WoS) to
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